Where Are We?
by Aradia-rising
Summary: I boarded flight 815 to LAX wearing sensible clothing and bringing an overpacked carry on. I had the in-flight meal but opted not to have the cocktail. As the plane went down it occurred to me I should have had the cocktail.
1. Chapter 1

I boarded flight 815 to LAX wearing a pair of medium brown Bermuda shorts, a camisole under a short kurti top and a pair of flat gladiator sandals. Although I checked my bag my carry-on, a large leather hobo bag, was stuffed with books, my ipod, a self-filtering water bottle (brought through security empty and filled up near the terminal), tons of granola bars and snacks to eat before clearing customs, my essential travel bag of toiletries and of course my trusty travel socks that always keep my feet warm in the cold recycled air of the jet. My hair was pulled into a braid; my skin was free of makeup (I was saving that for an airport bathroom when we landed) and I opted not to wear jewelry to streamline going through security. I had a middle seat, which didn't bother me much; I'm the size of your average tween-ager, so squeezing between two armrests has never been much of a problem. I had the vegetarian option of the in-flight meal, a kind of curry dish and fruit salad which wasn't terrible, but opted out of having a complementary cocktail.

As I pulled my yellow oxygen mask on it occurred to me I should have had the cocktail.

The next thing I remember was a deep ache all over, a pounding in my ears and what felt like the sun beating down on me. I cracked open my eyes and immediately regretted it. The warmth was the sun and its light was not doing my head any favors. I flung my hand over my eyes and eased myself into a seated position. With my hand as a sunshade the view in front of me was even more surreal. Pieces of the Boeing 777 littered the beach like confetti, people and luggage scattered everywhere. It seemed everyone had blood on them somewhere and I feared as much for the woman being administered CPR to as the young woman screaming her head off in front of a wing.

I took a moment to do a mental inventory of my body. While everything hurt, nothing was particularly worse than anything else and I slowly managed to stand. Laying about 15 feet away was my carry-on and after securing it across my body I somehow felt reassured enough to make my way to the pretty blonde girl who by the sound of it had started to go hoarse.

"Hey you!" I tried making myself heard over the intermittent engine roar. "Come with me- we've got to get away from this." I pulled her arm towards the trees.

Her legs started to buckle. "Boone! Boone where are you?"

I ducked under her arm in an attempt to support her. "We'll find Boone, just come up here and sit okay?" Staggering we made our way to the tree line and I let her collapse in a near heap. She had gone silent for a moment but when a man was sucked into the engine she let out a loud scream and started to sob. "Don't worry- I'll go find Boone and bring him back to you. Just stay here and I'll be back."

She nodded quickly and took a deep uneven breath in through her nose. "He's got dark brown hair, blue eyes, medium height. He's wearing a blue shirt and _those stupid pinstriped pants_" she broke into fresh cries.

I patted her shoulder awkwardly and hurried down to the shoreline, eyes peeled for pinstripes. "Boone?" I yelled experimentally. It suddenly hit me I had no idea what the girls name was. "Boone?" I tried again louder, trying to project like my high school drama teacher had taught me. I spotted a brunet head of hair wearing a blue shirt over a chunk of wing and squeezed an extra ounce of energy to jog over to it. "Are you Boone?"

He turned and I was momentarily disarmed by his intense blue eyes. "Do I know you?"

_God I hope she's his sister. _I surprised myself with the thought. "Your um- there's a girl, asking for you," I suddenly felt shy, "Tall, blonde hair-"

"Shannon!" He looked relieved. "You found my sister? Where is she?" His eyes danced along the scenery behind me.

I turned to look back towards the girl-Shannon. She was sitting with her arms around her knees, staring blankly into the horizon. "She's up by the trees," I pointed, "see there between those two trees? Right behind that broken beam."

His eyes lit up and he raced towards her. "Shannon! I'm coming! Hey thanks!" He yelled over his shoulder.

I cupped my hands around my mouth. "You're welcome!"

An anguished cry made me whip my head around too fast, causing the beach to spin for a moment. A very pregnant blonde girl about my size without the belly was curled into a fetal position on the beach 30 feet from where part of the plane had fallen and created another explosion. She let out another shriek and I stumbled my way to her. "Are you hurt?" I clasped a hand over each wrist and attempted to get her to look me in the eye.

"Ohhhhh…" She moaned and tucked her head to her chest. "I think the baby's coming" she whimpered, eyes tightly shut.

"What's your name?" I gently pushed her hair out of her eyes and tried to determine how deep the cut on her chin was.

She put her elbows under her and pushed into a seated position. "Claire, who are you?"

"I'm Emma." I stood and offered her a hand. "Let's get up where it's safer okay?"


	2. Chapter 2

So I'm pretty pleased with the number of readers I've gotten so far, but I'd be really pleased if I could get some feedback. I have a feeling I'm going to have a slow start so bare with me and don't hesitate to let me know what you think works and what doesn't!

* * *

After Claire's contractions stopped it looked as if most everyone had calmed down a bit and gotten a safe distance away from the wreckage. The wreckage itself wasn't looking as precarious either- I figured most of what was going to fall apart had done so I decided to see if I could find Claire and I's luggage. I glanced through the bags that had been scattered along the beach and spotted a pink child-sized suitcase that had busted open, sending little girl's clothes in every direction. My heart broke for a moment thinking of someone's daughter that would never make it to her parents' arms. When I didn't see Claire's blue and white duffel bag or my zebra striped rolling suitcase I figured I'd have to go into the fuselage. It didn't seem like a very appealing option but after grabbing a thin headscarf and wrapping it around my nose and mouth I braved the overpowering smell and surprising heat to drag her duffel out on top of my suitcase.

"Oh my god you found it!" Claire grabbed her belly and rolled herself upright. "Thank you!"

I let the suitcase fall over into the sand between her and where I tumbled into the beach. "Figured what was the point in making two trips?" I grinned, finding the sunscreen I brought. "It's pretty awful in there too- the less people that see it the better."

She removed the button up shirt she was wearing and shoved it in her bag. "The rescue boat will probably handle it. Could I borrow some sun block?"

* * *

By nightfall the adrenaline stores had run out and the shock was setting in for all of us. I stayed with Claire until Hurley, the heavyset guy with long curly hair, passed out the food. Most people discarded the trays the food was in so I gathered them up and stacked them in a neat pile.

"What are you keeping those for?" Claire tilted her head curiously. "The trash piles over there I think."

"For catching water." At her raised eyebrows I explained. "The Pacific's a big ocean and a rescue could be a while. Doesn't hurt to have fresh water on hand."

She bobbed her head as she chewed thoughtfully. "Good idea. I'd have just thrown it all away."

"I was a girl scout." I grinned. "I know you're sick of me asking but how are you feeling?"

She swallowed. "Better- I think it was just the stress ya know?" She lowered her head and gently touched her belly. "I haven't felt the baby move since though."

"I'm sure it's fine," I replied, "It was traumatic for both of you and it's probably recuperating. Were you stopping in L.A.?"

She looked into the fire and nodded. "Yeah, I was meeting a couple that was going to adopt my baby. What about you?"

"I'm headed home to Seattle. Wonder if my boss will let me go back to work a day late?" I giggled and Claire replied with a small smile. A smile that was replaced by a look of utter fear when a huge noise sounding vaguely metallic but also something not unlike Godzilla came from the jungle further down the beach. We both stood, after I nearly fell backwards over the log we were sitting on. "What was that?" I asked shakily.

"Maybe it's Vincent!" I heard a little boy's voice from somewhere near the plane wreckage.

"I don't think that's Vincent" A man, presumably his father replied. The noise came again, louder this time, moving the trees in the distance. Claire and I grabbed each other's arms as if we could protect ourselves from the gigantic metal Godzilla monster.

I noticed the cute guy I met earlier- Boone- standing and walking _towards_ the noise around the bend of the beach. "Boone! Wait!" His sister called angrily, stomping her foot.

Claire and I stayed completely still as trees begin to move in the opposite direction of the water and I started letting out a breath I wasn't aware I was holding.

I hear a British voice mutter "Terrific," and the terrifying moment is thankfully broken. People begin to sit again or look for somewhere to sleep. Our little campfire was dying down so I stuffed it full of the medium sized branches we had piled next to it. We filled Claire's duffel bag with our t-shirts and used it as a pillow, situating the zipper between us as we fell asleep head to head.


	3. Chapter 3

I think this is the longest chapter I've ever written- I'm pretty proud. Like I said last time, I'd love to get a review or two (don't make me resort to blackmail!) and I hope you enjoy!

* * *

I slept fitfully, dozing off to the sound of people murmuring and waking when they started arguing. I hoped Claire had better luck staying asleep- she needed it more than I did. As the sun emerged fully over the horizon I gave up on sleeping and decided to dip my toes in the water. I felt dirty, not only from the sand sticking to all sorts of uncomfortable places but the sweat that was already collecting in the small of my back and my normally straight hair starting to curl from the sea spray.

"Hey." I turned to see Claire holding one of my granola bars I left for her. "Did you have one?"

I nodded. "How'd you sleep?"

She shrugged. "Not bad. I was really tired though, and that helped."

Behind us a group of passengers was debating the scary noises we heard the night before. An older African-American woman was insisting that the sounds were familiar. Looking back in the light of day the monster sounded a little like a gigantic garbage truck. The odds of a gigantic garbage truck driving through the jungle on a tropical island were slim enough that it was safe to stay it wasn't responsible for knocking over the trees last night. A bald man passed with half an orange hanging out of his mouth while peeling the other half. It made my mouth water.

"Excuse me?" I splashed my feet in the waves as I followed him. "Did you get that on the plane?"

He stopped, seeming to just notice me. "I picked it." He said shortly but not unkindly. "About twenty feet into the jungle. Right over there." He pointed to a cluster of small trees I could see through a near wall of bamboo.

I smiled. "Thank you! I'm Emma by the way."

He nodded peacefully. "John Locke. It's nice to meet you. Be sure to grab one for your friend."

"That's the plan!" I marched up the beach, feeling my thighs burn slightly with the incline. Past the grove of bamboo there was a cluster of medium sized trees dripping with small oranges or tangerines. The whole area smelled slightly of oranges which has always been a soothing smell and I leaned against a tree to take it in. I grabbed a few fruits and hurried back down to Claire. "Here, you need your vitamins." I offered her an orange.

"Oh yum!" She replied, snatching it from my hand and making quick work of the peel. At her first bite she closed her eyes and tilted her head back. "God that's good."

I had a little trouble with my peel; Claire finished both of her fruits by the time I got mine all unpeeled. She was right- it was amazingly tangy and fruity, like what organic fruit's supposed to taste like. "I think I'm gonna have to bring these along when we get rescued!"

We went back to the grove and picked as many as we ate, returning to the beach with the aboriginal patterned bag that was supposed to be for my eco-friendly female prep chef. I figured she'd forgive me. I left Claire with our stuff and my water bottle and headed as far down the beach and away from the group as I felt safe venturing to settle the food trays I collected the previous night into the sand. I put them down so far so they wouldn't be disturbed in case it rained before we were rescued. I figured as an added bonus they were shiny and might catch the sun and reflect to a rescue plane. I dug small but wide holes and gently twisted each tray into place, being careful to avoid getting sand in them. After I finished placing the 50 trays in two neat squares of 25 I stood back and admired my work for a moment before it hit me how grimy I was. I stopped to grab a change of clothes and made my way down the beach where it looked more secluded. It was slightly rocky, and the water got deeper at a quicker pace. I put my fresh clothes on higher ground and peeled off my shorts and dirty tank before wading in to my waist. I cupped water in my palms and splashed water on myself. I ran across a couple bruises along my ribcage and the water stung some superficial cuts on my arms and the scrapes on my knees. I leaned into the water to rinse the gunk out of my hair and for a moment I almost felt normal.

"Well ain't this a pretty sight?" A slow paced drawl had me shooting straight up. A tall blonde man with deep blue eyes, 5 O'clock shadow and a cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth was looking me up and down slowly. I was past caring who was looking as long as it wasn't the ten year old, his dad or the entirety of the remaining passengers. "What's shaking sweet cheeks?"

The languid way he was looking me over was getting on my last nerve so I lowered myself into the water up to my chin. "I was trying to get clean. Maybe get a little peace and quiet." I eyed my fresh clothes realizing that the clarity of the water was doing nothing to conceal my lack of clothing.

"Don't stop on my account," He grinned slowly, taking a drag, "pretend I'm not even here." I watched, shocked, as he settled himself on a patch of sand and leaned back against a tree- hands folded behind his head. I took a very deep breath as I thought about my next move. Resolved, I stood, doing my best to ignore his eyes again dancing along my body nowhere near my face. I walked, calmly I hoped, to my clothes and pulled them on at a normal pace. "Aw sweetheart, done so soon? Thought the show was just warming up!" I ignored him. Grabbing my clothes I rinsed them in the ocean, noticing the clouds rolling in at an alarming pace. I bent over to quickly wring them out and he made what sounded like an appreciative noise. "Now that's more like it Tinkerbelle."

I whipped around to lay them on a rock and braid my hair. "Glad that I amused you. Can I at least know the name of my personal peeping tom?"

He put out his cigarette and leaned forward. "Name's Sawyer." He grinned lewdly. "And may I say nice to bump into you cupcake." I snatched my clothes off the rock as I made my way out of my hidey-hole with my shoes in my hand. "Aw come on princess, don't need to get your panties in a twist."

"My name's Emma, thanks for asking, and nothing's in a twist. I _was_ washing the plane crash off me and some southern pervert decided I needed some more aggravation in my day." I hadn't gotten this worked up in years, but then again these were extenuating circumstances.

Sawyer let out a chuckle and slowed his pace as I approached the larger group."Whatever you say little lady!"

I laid my clothes on top of my suitcase and went to find Claire. I found her by the African-American woman from this morning that she introduced to me as Rose. They were leaning against a fallen beam next to the remnants of a campfire. "Hey sexy mama," I sat on the beam itself, placing my hands on her shoulders and kneading in little circles, "How ya feeling?"

Her head lolled back. "Ohhh that feels good. I ate all my oranges Miss Emma." She stuck her tongue out at me but the effect was ruined by the smile peeking out from the edges of her upside down tongue. "And Rose has been taking good care of me." I moved up from her shoulders to her neck and her head went the opposite direction. "Still no sign of a rescue boat." She said sadly.

I shared a look with Rose. "The ocean's big. Pinpointing us probably isn't the easiest task. They'll come."

Just then the sky opened up as I felt more then heard a roll of thunder. Rose, Claire and I hurried to cover- in this case the space between the cracked body of the plane and the broken wing. Claire and I huddled together against the plane but jumped as we heard the garbage truck Godzilla noise and the trees shuffled again. Once more the monster seemed to move away from us which was personally a load off my mind and after the trees stilled again I felt my heartbeat return to normal. We stayed at the edge of the wing, looking from the sky to the trees in case the rain stopped or the noises returned. I spotted John Locke sitting peacefully in the sand, looking like he hadn't a care in the world. I had a feeling at that moment he didn't. After what felt like hours the rain abruptly stopped. Moments later the sky cleared up and we ventured back onto the open sand.

"Hey Hurley?" I touched his arm gently. "Do you know where water bottles are? I have rainwater we can refill them with."

He looked confused for a moment. "Uh yeah, there's some by the trash pile and that red cooler by the dude with the plane sticking out of him."

I nodded and opted to hit the trash pile rather than see the carnage of the improvised sick-bay. Something about seeing a body on the cusp of life and death, especially in the harsh light of day was more troubling then the multitude of bodies in the fuselage. The bottles were clean and most of them had lids- after spilling a couple times I figured the ideal way to fold the trays to get the most water into the bottles and off the sand. I had to brave the blood at the wounded area to get the bottles from the cooler filled, and still had a little water left over which I filled my water bottle with.

"That's a good idea." I looked up to see Locke inspecting my tray array. "Most people would have just thrown those away. Good thinking."

I offered him a water bottle. "Thanks. Water's one of those critical things, figured the more we could store the better. Worst case we leave it all here when we go."

He eyed me calmly and for a moment I thought he was looking right through me. "I have a book you might be interested in. **Edible Plants of the Tropics. **Might come in handy."

I felt like I was being tested. Some part of me didn't trust this man as far as I could throw him but another part, the larger part, felt that he was some kind of survivorman-Buddha that was going to keep us all safe. "Yeah, that'd be great. I'll just come by when I'm all done here."

He nodded and returned the bottle he'd taken a long swig of. "I'll save it for you."


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay- here it is. I want reviews. I don't know if it's that people that read Lost fanfictions don't like reviewing, or everyone who gets past the first chapter thinks this fic is terribly drawn out and boring but if I don't get some feedback on any chapters so far I'm going to quit writing. I have a tendency to start a story and then lose motivation (see all but one of my stories) but reviews keep me motivated. So please review because I think I've got something interesting going.**

* * *

On my last trip back with an armful of filled bottles I heard shouting and spotted a group gathered around a dark curly haired head and the blond guy that was checking me out earlier. A trio emerged from the jungle and the taller brunet guy immediately put himself between the brawlers.

"All right,break it up, break it up!" I could hear him shout as he pulled Sawyer off the other man.

An African-American guy in a blue shirt grabbed hold of the other man, attempting to keep them apart. I dropped the bottles by the cooler and jogged next to Claire at the edge of the circle. "What's going on?" I whispered.

She shrugged. "I dunno."

The darker man was clearly livid. "Tell everyone what you told me! Tell them that I crashed the plane! Go on! Tell them I made the plane crash!" He flung his arms wildly, gesturing from the crowd to Sawyer and back.

The black guy handed Sawyer's keeper something that looked like silver bracelets and said something I couldn't hear.

"And this guy was sitting in the back row of business class, the whole flight, never got up. Hands folded underneath the blanket." I rolled my eyes at Sawyer's logic.

After another moment of taunting the girl from the jungle trio snapped. "Stop! We found the transceiver, but it's not working. Can anybody help?" She looked hopefully around the circle.

The darker man spoke with a Middle Eastern accent. "Yes. I might be able to."

Sawyer rolled his eyes and tossed his hands in the air. "Oh great. Perfect! Let's trust this guy!"

"Hey! We're all this together, man." Hurley cut in. "Let's treat each other with a little respect"

I smiled, but it was wiped away by Sawyer's disrespectful response of 'Shut up, Lardo.'

"Hey!" The taller jungle man snapped his head in Sawyer's direction. "Give it a break."

Sawyer stalked off, but not before muttering, "Whatever you say, doc. You're the hero."

_A doctor?_ My ears perked up for a moment. Claire would be taken care of; although the good-looking man probably wasn't an OB/GYN I figured he'd be better than no doctor at all. I turned to suggest getting a few minutes of his time but Claire was already heading back to her perch on a section of plane seats by the water's edge. Scanning the beach I noticed John Locke sitting peacefully by a section of broken engine. "Hi Mr. Locke." I smiled what I hoped was brightly. "Is the offer for that book of yours still open?"

He slowly looked away from the horizon and it seemed to take him a moment to focus his eyes on my face. "Of course. Right here." He pulled a medium-sized paperback from under his knee. On the cover was a tropical island with palm trees dripping with fruit. It looked like it came from the seventies and had been well used in all its travels. "It's yours if you'd like it."

I was a little taken aback by the trust he was exhibiting in a total stranger. "Thank you, I think I would." I made my way down to Claire's seat and settled in next to her. "I got a book." I grinned, showing her the cover.

"Nice. Looks like a page turner." She replied.

I giggled. "Oh yeah, maybe if you're good I'll let you read it."

We fell into a relaxed silence. I could feel the waves of anxiety coming off her and I wished I knew how to reassure her. After a while an Asian man with a plate of something unappetizing looking approached us. He pushed the tray in front of us, offering it to Claire, then me, then Claire again. We shared a grossed out look.

"No. Tha-thank you." Claire tried refusing. The Asian man kept chattering.

I shook my head. "I'm fine"

"No, it's okay."

"No thanks."

More chattering.

"No really." Claire looked at me desperately.

I caved at the earnest look on the man's face. I'm sure the stuff was safe, and he was obviously trying to help, but the seafood just looked gross. "I'll eat it if you do."

She considered for a moment. "Okay." We each grabbed a prickly purple cup. "Thanks."

I held up my cup. "Cheers?"

She smiled wobbly. "Cheers."

We toasted and drank the slimy semi-liquid food in one gulp. It tasted as off as it smelled, and I struggled to not twist my tongue in an attempt to clean it off.

Suddenly Claire jumped up. "Oh, gosh! I just felt it!"

"Really?" I could see the weight lifted off her shoulders.

"I ju … Come here, feel this! Please?" She grabbed my hand and placed it on her belly. She tried to do the same to the man but he seemed uncomfortable. "Please? Please? Do you feel that? There! Right there, that's a kick!"

"Ohmygosh!" I let out an excited breath. I'd never felt anything like it before. The tiny life, reasserting his place in the world.

"There! There, right there's a foot! Oh no, he's, wait, he's moving around." The man slipped his hand out from under hers and wondered away quickly, looking back nervously after getting a safe distance away.

Claire softened a moment and reverently touched her stomach. "'He'. 'He'. I guess I think you're a 'he'." She smiled softly at me.

I smiled back and put an arm around her shoulder. "I'm glad you're feeling better."

She took a moment to bask in her moment of comfort, then took a deep breath. "Let's go sort clothes."

Although there was plenty of clothes not a lot of it was practical and therefore most of the stuff wasn't usable as clothing. Claire and I were lucky though; kids' clothes seemed to be inherently hardy so we nabbed a few pairs of light pants and sweaters that wouldn't have fit anyone else. The chief shortage was practical footwear, most of it was flip flops and light walking shoes and I was very glad I brought hiking shoes with me. As the sand heated up and more people decided to come help sort I thought I'd test the authority of Locke's book. I grabbed the patterned bag and gathered as many oranges as I could reach from the little grove and peeled one thoughtfully as I decided which plant to try finding first. I thought I recognized the picture of the water spinach from my little bathing grotto so I went that direction, keeping my eyes peeled for other produce I recognized. Along the way I managed to pick up some Japanese eggplant, guava, Okinawa spinach and some bananas.

"I am woman, hear me roar!" I puffed out my chest as I approached Claire who was sitting in her plane seat that she'd managed to move in front of our shelter. Yesterday's rain forced people to grab something to put over their heads and by the time we went scavenging most of what we could use to cover ourselves was used up. We ended up holing up in a side of the fuselage just about the right size for the two of us. We used an empty suitcase to block off one end of the giant tube and set my suitcase at the end of it to give us some privacy.

She placed her diary under her thigh and peeked in the bag. "What is all this?" she asked, wide eyed.

"This is lunch! Locke's book came in handy- got us fruits _and_ vegetables. Everything a soon-to-be-mama needs."

"Oooo! You got more of those amazing oranges!" She went to work peeling it.

I grabbed an eggplant that rolled onto the sand. "Have some veggies too Claire. This is just like regular eggplant, only not as bitter."

She looked at the vegetable skeptically as she swallowed an orange section. "All right, if I have to." She nibbled the end of it thoughtfully. "Not bad. Not as good as the oranges though."

We ate our bounty as best we could using plastic dinnerware. We drained our water bottle but the fruits offered a decent liquid supply; I hoped it'd rain again soon so I could refill it from the trays. It was starting to get dark and a little cold, so Claire and I moved into the tube that was warm from the sun beating down on it all day.

"Bending over suitcases all day was not a good idea." Claire sighed, rubbing her lower back.

I scooted towards her. "Want another massage?"

"That'd be wonderful. Are you a masseuse?"

I carefully kneaded her spine. "Nope. I'm a waitress. I had a boyfriend that did a lot of heavy lifting, back rubs got me out of everything."

"I think you should consider a career change." She let out a small groan. "You have a gift."

"I'll keep that in mind." I smiled and moved up her back. "What did you do in Sydney?"

"I worked in a piercing shop. It was good; I met all sorts of people. You'd never guess the kind of people that have genital piercings. " She leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees.

"Ewww! I so didn't need to know that!" I laughed in spite of myself, drawing looks from people lighting campfires. We had a stack of timber outside and someone built a campfire with it. The warmth flowed into our little tube just as the sun dipped under the horizon and after finishing Claire's back rub I asked if I could braid her hair. "Your hair's so pretty- blonde and curly. So much nicer then my boring brown hair." I said as I carefully sectioned it off.

She sighed contentedly. "But your hair's so long. How long have you been growing it?"

I gently used my fingers to separate the tangles. "A couple years. I hardly cut it though- I look awful with short hair." I quickly plaited the rest of her hair. "There- done!"

She reached back and felt her tresses. "I bet it's beautiful. Thank you!" She turned and gave me a hug, then suddenly stood. "This baby is always sitting right on my bladder."

"Want me to come?" I moved to sit up.

She walked backwards towards the trees, holding her stomach. "I'm fine. I'll be right back. Promise."

I had noticed another group went off into the jungle soon after the fight was broken up but they weren't back yet. As Claire returned I thought of them and hoped they were all right. So far the monster from yesterday was in hiding, and as I drifted asleep to the sound of Claire's breathing I felt somewhat safe for the first time since I arrived on the island.

* * *

**I could resort to bribery I guess- Review and I'll name a passenger after you!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Woot! I got a review! I was super productive and wrote three chapters in a day, hopefully you all enjoy!**

**

* * *

**

The tube shaded us from the rising sun so it wasn't until I heard excited noises that I woke up. I peeked my head out to investigate. The hiking party had returned but apparently with less than stellar news about the plane's transceiver. The Middle Eastern was organizing the passengers into groups to help manage our supplies for the time we were stranded here.

I tapped him on the shoulder. "Excuse me?"

"-posts at all corners of the tarp. Yes?" He seemed distracted for a moment.

"I put a group of the plane food trays down on the other end of the beach," I pointed around the bend, "If it rains they're easy to empty into the bottles, I did it yesterday."

He looked almost relieved for a moment. "That's a good idea- you no doubt doubled our water capacity. My name is Sayid Jarrah."

I noticed the brunette girl from yesterday's jungle trio talking to the doctor behind him. "Emma Harik. Is the transceiver our only chance of getting a rescue team to find us?"

He sighed. "It is our best option. The pilot said we were over a thousand miles off course when we hit turbulence. Any rescue team is going to have trouble locating us without it."

I felt my mouth drop open. "A thousand miles?" I asked "How did that happen?"

"Apparently we lost contact with the ground. We turned back in order to reestablish contact and land." He eyed the small group that was still struggling to put up a tarp.

"Hey Emma?" Boone approached us hesitantly. "We heard there's more stuff inside the fuselage that we could use. I guess it's kind of cramped in there, and since you're the smallest person besides the kid," he looked away for a moment, "we were wondering if you'd be able to get to it."

I glanced at the giant metal tube, thinking of the smell that had undoubtedly gotten worse overnight. Was I really willing to brave it again? "Yeah, just let me grab my scarf." I slid my eyes back to Boone who seemed relieved.

"Great- I'll let them know." He fell into step with me. "Just toss them out the side of whatever, we'll move them down the beach."

I nodded, wrapping my scarf around my nose and mouth and tying it into a knot behind my head. I slid my braid under the neckline of my shirt to keep it out of the way and hurried to the fuselage. I wanted to get inside and get it over with. I started with the more accessible bags, pushing them as far away from the entrance as possible. By the time I cleared a path for myself I had gotten used to the smell and started climbing along the empty seats to open the overhead compartments that by some miracle hadn't popped open yet. "Heads!" I yelled as I released the locking mechanism, partly to distract myself from the body that hung out of seat 29 E and partly because I'd heard some movement below me.

"Jesus monkey girl! How'd you get up there?" A flashlight beam ran up my legs.

"Well Dick Hick, I thought it'd be obvious. I climbed." I replied smartly, balancing on armrests in order to make it to the next closed compartment. "What are you doing?"

Sawyer looked up from his rummaging through the suitcases I'd just freed. "Gettin' goodies, just like you." He trained his flashlight on a magazine. "I never knew they had a Playboy Australia." He mused.

I sighed. "Heads! Except I'm not taking anything. I'm getting the rest of the luggage out to everyone who can't fit up here." Sawyer ignored me and moved on to another section of the plane. There were only a few more unopened compartments in the lower rows so I braved climbing through the center section to get to the very top of the crushed tube. We worked in silence for a while- I was having serious difficulties getting stuff out of the upward-facing compartments- until Sawyer decided to taunt another passenger who was rummaging through the lower bags.

"You're looting." I heard him accuse angrily.

"Aww, you say potato..." I snorted softly at Sawyer's lack of concern.

They bantered back and forth for a moment, then the other man spoke loudly enough for me to hear.

"Do you do this back home, too - steal from the dead?"

Sawyer climbed out from his perch between crushed seats and overhead bins. "Brother, you've to got wake up and smell the bull crap here, rescue ain't comin'. You're just wasting your time. You're trying to save a guy who last time I checked had a piece of metal the size of my head sticking out of his bread basket. Let me ask you something. How many of those pills are you going to use to fix him up?"

The other man stopped rummaging for a moment. "As many as it takes." He said quietly.

"Yeah? How many you got?" Sawyer fired back. "You're just not looking at the big picture, Doc. You're still back in civilization."

The doctor sat back on his heels to give him his full attention. "Yeah? And where are you?"

"Me? I'm in the wild." He chuckled, then slid out the entrance, stolen backpack in tow.

In moving onto another armrest my luck finally ran out and it snapped off, causing me to plunge both arms into the open compartment and let out a shriek.

"Are you okay?" Another flashlight moved up my body.

I slowly slid my arms out until just my hands were keeping me suspended. "Yeah, I'm fine. Boone asked me to get some of these bags. Guess I should lay off the mangos."

I heard him laugh. "Just let go and I'll catch you." I looked around and grabbed hold of the back of a seat. After transferring both hands onto the one closest to me I climbed down the row like a ladder. "I've got you," he said softly, one hand on my upper thigh and another on my lower back. I let go and dropped to the ground.

"Thanks." I said shakily. "Think I'm gonna wait a bit before trying that again."

He shined his flashlight up the row to where I fell from. "That was pretty high up; I'm surprised you didn't fall sooner." He said studying me. "I'm Jack." He offered his hand.

"Emma. You're the doctor right?" He nodded. "My friend Claire's pregnant- I was wondering if you'd be able to check her out at some point; you know, make sure everything's okay."

"Of course, just come by the tent with the yellow and blue tarp." He replied. "There's a guy in there-"

"-with a piece of metal sticking out of his bread basket." I finished. "I heard. Is that what you're looking for? Medication?"

He smiled ruefully. "The strongest stuff we've got is for ear infections. It can't fight off his infection."

I gestured to the bags I dropped that Sawyer hadn't bothered looking into. "I haven't checked those- just dropped them down for everyone else. What should we be looking for?"

"Anything ending in –mycin and –cillin. They're antibiotics. Turns out," He walked ahead of me to the untampered bags, "most people don't carry antibiotics to fight off deadly infections in their carry-on."

I dropped to my knees and unzipped a bag that screamed 'hypochondriac old lady' "I found rubbing alcohol." I offered. "And some medication- can I borrow the flashlight?" instead he shined the light on the bottle and read it himself.

"Erythromycin. It'd be perfect if all he had was strep throat." He sighed and threw it into his medication pile.

"I'm going to make some room. You went through all these?" I motioned to the bags littering the floor between us and the entrance.

He nodded. "Yeah, thanks."

We fell into a comfortable silence punctuated by the sound of zippers and rattling of pills on his side, and the sound of my deep breaths as I wrestled with some of the larger carry-ons. I tried to covertly sneak peeks at Jack as he was engrossed in his search. _Damn he's good looking._ If I was going to be stranded on a deserted island, at least I had eye candy to pass the time with. My musing was broken by the arrival of another downpour. Jack and I looked at each other, debating whether it was worth it to go back out into the shower. We saw Hurley running past the entrance and it seemed to make his mind up. He shoved the medication into a backpack and took off in the direction of the blue and yellow tarps he mentioned earlier. I took a deep breath and ran towards Claire and my shelter. To my surprise there was someone else sitting inside with her.

"Emma! This is Charlie." She motioned to the blonde man as they scooted over to make room for me. "Charlie, this is Emma."

"Hi." I said, pushing my wet hair behind my ears and offering my hand.

He gave me a small smile as he shook it. "Pleasure."

I looked out at the deluge and sighed. _At least we'll have water._

Today's rainstorm was much shorter then yesterdays and all at once the rain stopped and the sun returned. Charlie and I clambered out of the little tube and each lent a hand to help Claire so the same.

"I pushed some luggage out of the plane- where is it getting moved to?"

Claire swayed a little and pointed towards the tree line where a group of people huddled over a pile of luggage. "Just over there." She said, holding her belly and stretching.

I rubbed her shoulder gently. "Want another back rub later?"

She smiled. "It really helped yesterday."

"You give back rubs?" Charlie looked excited. "Could I have one? Think I popped something out of place in the crash."

I thought for a moment. The sun was making its decent and I didn't know how to make a fire without gasoline. "If you build us a fire I'll give you one. Right after Claire's."

He bounced on the balls of his feet. "Brilliant! I'll get right to it then." He wandered away, hopefully in search of matches and/or firewood.

Claire and I dragged the carry-ons from the fuselage to the pile one by one. The flurry of activity was mostly centered on the larger bags and new arrivals so by the time we made our second trip most of the people that were waiting for bags pitched in and we made short work of the pile. By that point it was pushing sunset and we decided to see what food was still available from the plane. There were some roasted peanuts, melted cheese cubes and a fair amount of crackers that we supplemented with some fruit from yesterday. We ate while watching Charlie stack wood on top of the ashes of our previous fire and try to light it.

"I think it works better if you get rid of the ashes." I suggested, peeling a banana. "I haven't built a campfire in years though, what do I know?"

He glanced up at me from his crouching position. "Worth a shot." He admitted, unpiling the Lincoln log tower and shoving the ashy sand out of the circle. He tried again and the little flame from his lighter came to life along the twigs. "I did it!" he exclaimed happily. "I did it!"

"You did it!" I jumped off the seats and hugged him. "Thank you!"

**I have another request dear readers. Press the link just below my Author's note and tell me what kind of pairing you'd like to see. I know I have some thoughts but I'm juggling a ton of ideas at this point so I'm counting on you to set me straight!**


	6. Chapter 6

**I'd like to dedicate this chapter to Mini Mo XX, my loyal reviewer!**

**

* * *

**

By the time we ate breakfast the next day Claire and I had finished the last of the bounty I picked with the help of Locke's book. Charlie came by to check on us, although I thought it was more Claire he was concerned with. As the sun started heating up the sand to a painful degree I thought it would be a good idea to escape the heat and go picking again. Unfortunately while the trees blocked out some of the sun they also kept in the humidity and I felt sweat begin to pool in all sorts of uncomfortable places. I was comparing a picture in the book to the short leafy plant in front of me when I heard rustling in the underbrush behind me. I snapped the book closed and backed up against the nearest tree. To my relief a woman a few years older than me with brown curly hair stepped into view.

"Sorry." She said as she noticed me, "didn't mean to scare you."

"That's okay, I'm just glad you weren't something that would eat me." I laughed. "I'm Emma."

"Kate." She replied. "What are you doing out here?"

I frowned. "I'm getting some food. Locke gave me this book," I pulled it from behind me to show her, "it's been really helpful."

She looked at me confused. "Who's Locke?"

"John Locke, bald guy, a cut across his eye, pretty much the only person who seems happy to be here?"

She nodded. "He kind of creeps me out."

I shrugged. "Well he gave me the book and it hasn't steered me wrong yet." I opened it back up to my previous page. "Do you think this is Chinese cabbage?"

With Kate's extra bag we brought back twice as much food as the last time I went out. As we parted she grabbed my arm. "Don't go in there alone anymore, okay? I'll go with you the next time we need food."

I nodded, mostly to humor her but I also wouldn't mind having another bag to fill. "Yeah okay." Approaching Claire I noticed not only Charlie but Boone and Shannon were sitting with her. "Hey, what's up? I got more of your oranges, and some kiwi, and those vegetables you don't like." I teased her, tossing her one of the aforementioned oranges.

"I want a massage too." Shannon fired bluntly.

"Shannon-"

"What?" She glared at Boone. "She gave one to Claire and Charlie and I want one too."

I dropped the bag beside me as I sat. "Claire's my friend. And she's pregnant. She should be opening baby shower gifts and having somebody else decorate a nursery. And Charlie built us a fire."

She rolled her eyes. "I'll give you my sunglasses." She replied, offering them on her outstretched finger.

Now normally I'd consider that a fair trade- they looked like pretty expensive sunglasses. But something about her just rubbed me the wrong way. "And one of your bathing suits. My choice."

She stared me down for a long moment, then sighed. "Deal." She flipped her hair over her shoulders and turned her back to me.

"You don' t have to do it- not like she's done anything but tan anyways." Boone glared at her as I began kneading her shoulders.

"Shut up. I went on the hike with the transceiver- same as you." She shot back. "What did you do today besides pick on me?"

His eyes narrowed. "I moved the shrapnel guy's body. And I sorted through clothes, and I filled water bottles. I wasn't useless like you are."

"I hurt myself climbing yesterday moron." Shannon stated as if it were obvious.

Boone tossed his head "Well the guy with the torn up leg managed to sort through belongings, what's your excuse?"

"I just went through a trauma."

I felt like they'd had this conversation many times before. Claire, Charlie and I glanced at each other. The three of us had a very calm evening the night before and it seemed the siblings were dead set on damaging this evening's calm.

"We've all went through a trauma. In fact, you just bartered a trauma _victim_ for a massage! You don't have to posture for me Shannon, I'm your family."

"And you just love reminding me. You can drop the fake concern- your mom's not gonna hear about how nicely you treated the poor little rich girl."

We fell into a terribly awkward silence for a few minutes. Ever since meeting Charlie I couldn't shake the feeling I'd seen him before. I thought deeply for a moment as I rubbed Shannon's back. "DriveShaft!" I cried suddenly. "You're Charlie Pace from DriveShaft!"

He looked like Christmas had come early. "Course I am. You've heard of us?"

"Obviously." Shannon muttered. "Ouch!"

"Sorry." I replied sweetly "Must have hit a sore spot." I caught Boone's eye and winked. "I loved _You All Everybody, _had it stuck in my head for days after I first heard it. I liked the first CD better than the second though, but that's how I usually am with music."

"Well we're in the middle of a comeback actually- the next album's going to be more like the first. I was writing a song for it before we took off." Charlie spoke like a proud parent.

I moved my hands back up to Shannon's neck and rolled her spine between my thumbs. "I always wished I had talent like that- creating a song from nothing. It's amazing."

"We'll have to do a show in your neighborhood on our next tour. Claire said you're from Seattle, yeah?"

I nodded. "Right around there. I work in a restaurant so I could even feed you."

"That'd be brilliant!"

I finished with Shannon's massage and moved on to Claire- making her eat some of the bok choy and try some raw okra in exchange. She actually liked the sweet peas Kate and I found on accident and I made a mental note to go back for some next time as I was a big fan too. Charlie got a back rub for starting our fire again- something he said he could get used to. I considered giving Boone one since he looked worn out from dealing with Shannon all day but I didn't want to incur her wrath in the form of a temper tantrum. Instead I went with her to her luggage to pick out a bathing suit. None of them were particularly practical looking so I decided to go for sexy instead. I chose a pewter colored bikini that I knew would barely cover me but all my suits were boringly sensible and I figured a little impracticality could be fun.

"What'd you get?" Claire leaned across our seats to stretch out the suit. "That's a sexy little number! You gonna try it on?"

I dropped it between us as I sat down. "I probably won't ever wear it- it's my sexy alter-ego's bikini." I sighed.

She held the bottoms up to her lap. "I think you'd look great. Better than I would with this stomach."

I grinned. "You'd look adorable in a bikini. You just look like you swallowed a basketball; I hope I look that good pregnant."

She smiled softly and placed her hands on her belly. "I look like a beached whale but thanks for the sentiment." She giggled.

"Maybe we can sit out overexposed together tomorrow." I suggested as the sun set and the wind picked up. We grabbed a couple sweatshirts one of the passengers- Ethan- offered us and settled into the entrance of our tube, watching the campfire and listening to the waves crashing. I dozed off on Claire's shoulder and before long we curled into long term sleeping positions until we were woken by the little boy Walt's dog running through the camp barking like mad.

"Sorry, hey, sorry, sorry." Walt's father Michael apologized as he was dragged from his sleeping area to the plane. As they stopped I could hear loud rummaging from inside the giant tube.

"Somebody's in there." Claire said fearfully, gripping my hand.

I heard Sayid behind us. "Everyone in there's dead."

Sawyer and Jack made their way towards the plane armed with flashlights. Claire and I, as well as other passengers made our way towards the plane too, our curiosity overwhelming our fear.

"Run." Jack exclaimed, turning to do so.

Claire and I turned to book it, Sayid and me each grabbing her elbow. We moved out of the path of the animals that had charged at us, and ducked behind a piece of scrap metal to catch our breath.

Sayid looked over us and into the jungle. "They're gone." He assured us.

"What the bloody hell was that?" I heard Charlie moan.

Locke smiled. "Boars"

* * *

**Review Please!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Not that I'm not grateful but I'd really like more then one review on this chapter- it's by far my longest yet and I'd love some feedback! So if you review I'll give you a preview of the next chapter. Sound fair?**

Morning came with arguments over how to get rid of the bodies the boars were demolishing. It seemed the only clear opinion of what to do was to burn them, although not everyone seemed to agree. The way I heard it plenty of cultures burned their dead- if it were me in the plane I wouldn't have minded. I did hope that everything we could salvage from the wreckage was removed before we started the fire.

After eating my last granola bar I headed to the medical tent to see if Jack had any suggestions for what could be taken from the plane that hadn't already.

"Hey Jack?" He turned and looked at me carefully as if trying to remember my name. "Emma." I smiled as the light of recognition went on. "Do you know if they've gotten everything out of the plane?"

He shaded his eyes with his hand. "I think so. You know it might be a good idea to get some of those oxygen masks, for the string and tubing. The bodies are pretty decomposed though, not sure if you want to go in there." His eyes slid back to me, studying me.

I nodded and tried to speak with more confidence then I felt. "I'll figure it out."

"I'll come with you." He offered, grabbing a mask for himself and offering me one.

I already had my headscarf over my shoulders but I put the mask on, covering it with my scarf when I was hit with the full effect of the smell. The lower rows had been picked clean, although Jack pulled what oxygen masks and seat trays he could reach from the places people hadn't already gotten too. I climbed up an empty row, kicking off trays as I went.

"You spend some time in a circus?" Jack's voice floated up through the acrid stench of bodies. "You're pretty nimble up there."

I smiled though he couldn't see it. "Nope, just climbed a lot of trees as a kid. What kind of doctor are you?"

I heard the trays being shoved together. "A spinal surgeon." He replied.

"Sounds like tricky work."

He chuckled. "It is. Didn't exactly prepare me for this though."

I had pulled down as many of the masks as I could get to, and climbed down the seats nearest the entrance. "Well I don't think you can exactly prepare for this. You seem to be doing pretty good so far."

He smiled. "Thanks."

We made our way back to the tent where we places the masks inside next to the makeshift bed and the trays outside in case we needed them for building materials. I heard Sawyer's telltale accent rising in volume as Jack and I headed in that direction knowing there was probably some kind of skirmish.

" Oh that's bull and you know it." I heard Hurley complain. "You're not happy unless you're screwing over everybody"

Sawyer sneered. "Hey I'm peachy, pork pie."

"Guys, knock it off." Jack entered the small crowd that had decided to watch.

Sawyer wiped his mouth. "Stay outta this, Metro."

With Sayid's help, Jack separated the two men. "What's going on?"

Hurley pointing an accusing finger. "Jethro here's hoarding the last of the peanuts."

"My own stash. I found it in there. "

Jack looked between the two of them. "What about the rest of the food?"

"There is no rest of the food, dude. We kind of—ate it all." Hurley looked dejected.

Shannon looked shocked "What?" she exclaimed.

People started murmuring about starving to death. Jack tried to restore calm, "Okay everybody, just calm down." It didn't have much of an effect.

Sayid tried too. "We can find food. There are plenty of things on this island we can use for sustenance."

Sawyer plopped himself into an airplane seat. "And exactly how are we going to find this sustenance?" he drawled.

Suddenly a knife landed in the seat next to Sawyer. Following the direction of where it came from I saw Locke, standing there calmly.

"We hunt." He said simply.

I had heard rustling behind me for the last few minutes as I went hunting for more sweet peas. I was pretty sure whatever it was would have attacked me by now, so instead of feeling scared I was actually annoyed. I spotted some cool fuchsia bulbs that reminded me of pine cones hanging off a vine that crept over branches of a tree and saw my chance to see who my shadow really was. I slid my hobo bag across my body and shimmied up the tree. I carefully scaled the branch with the most bulbs and gently pulled them off their vine. When I heard the rustle again I tried grabbing one just out of reach and lost my footing. I hung from the branch pathetically. "Help." I cried. "Somebody?"

"Hang on- I've gotcha." It was Boone. He looked panicked and held his arms above his head as if to catch me.

I smiled. "I'm okay," I said, swinging my legs over the branch to sit on it. "I just wanted to know who my stalker was." I slid down the branch, then jumped off the tree, landing a little unevenly. "Keeping tabs on me?"

He grabbed my arm to steady me. "It's dangerous in the jungle. Nobody should be out here alone." He said seriously.

I noticed he had a backpack on. "Anything in there?" I asked, motioning to it.

He shook his head. "Just some water."

"Well I guess you can be my pack mule. First Kate, now you- I can take care of myself you know."

"It's just not safe out here. Those weird noises, and the boars. We even saw a polar bear the other day on the hike." He nearly bowled me over as I stopped in my tracks.

"A polar bear?" I was momentarily distracted by his ridiculously blue eyes. "Isn't it a little far south for them?"

He smirked. "Global warming."

I nodded and started moving again. "Ah, the root of all evil." Boone was actually a wonderful foraging companion. He was great at giving me a boost to trees I wouldn't normally be able to climb. I looked low and he looked high, between us I brought back the widest variety of produce yet. He was also a decent guy to talk to. I found out he was headed home to Malibu, although he was born on the east coast; that his mother owned a wedding empire and he was the Chief Operating Officer- Impressive for a guy of his age. I told him some stories about my work, which were funnier than his stories about his work, mostly I thought because the personalities attracted to the restaurant industry were a little more rough-edged then those in the wedding business. He also explained that Shannon had a problem with using men & generally being a bitch and suggested giving her a wide berth. "That's a nice thing to say about your sister."

"She's my stepsister. Our parents got married 12 years ago. I was ten and she was eight." He was whacking the tall grass violently with a stick he'd picked up.

I sensed some issues. "I was just kidding. People say things about their family no one else could get away with."

He sighed. "You got that right."

When we returned Shannon immediately pounced on her brother. Rather than listen to them argue I dropped my bag at the tube and went off in search of Claire. I found her sorting through personal belongings, looking through papers with any kind of clue to our deceased passengers.

"This guy had overdue video rentals. _Willy Wonka_ and _A Little Princess._" She remarked quietly.

I took a quick look at the crumpled receipt. "Maybe he had kids." I suggested. "It's weird what you can learn about someone based on their pocket contents."

She nodded sadly. "We're all so very lucky."

I squeezed her arm gently. "We are." I gave her a moment to reflect. "Now how are we going to organize this stuff? There's an awful lot of it."

"Well," she said slowly, "I guess we should make sure we just have things from people in there." She motioned towards the fuselage. "Wouldn't want to say a few words about someone standing on the beach."

"Yeah, that'd be awkward. Maybe start with IDs? That way we can rule out people here without having to ask everyone." I turned towards the pile of wallets Claire had separated out.

"And then put their pocket bits with them, so there's more to say."

It amazed me how much Claire cared about making sure these people were remembered. If it were up to me I _might _save their IDs or boarding passes, but not make a speech or have a real memorial. I knew she had major doubts about being a mom but I couldn't imagine her being anything but a great one based on how much she cared about people she didn't even know.

We laid out the various passports and drivers licenses around us in the sand. It was an eerie picture, people reduced to information on a piece of plastic. The wind blew and dusted some of them, and it hit me how close I could have been to being one of those people in the fuselage. I felt hot tears well up behind my lids and struggled to force them back. _Crying's just going to dehydrate me, and then I really will be dead. _I took a deep breath and opened my eyes to find Claire looking at me with concern.

I managed a smile. "I'm fine now." I said, clearing my throat.

She smiled and we went back to sorting. "Excuse me," I looked up but she wasn't talking to me. "Your name's Sayid, right?"

I turned to him, more than a little impressed that he was making something out of the tangle of wires in his hand. "Yes." He said warily.

She held a letter in her outstretched hand. "I just found this. It's got your name on it." She said simply.

He scrambled over the small sand dune separating us to have a closer look. "I thought I'd lost this." He said gratefully. "Thank you."

"Sure." She shrugged and shot him a smile.

A shadow fell over me. "How's it going?" Boone crouched down to survey our progress.

"We have a very sophisticated sorting system," I grinned. "Wanna help?"

"Sure!" He sat cross-legged in the sand beside me. "What can I do?"

I considered the pile. "How about you grab something and read it to me and I'll tell me if it's someone that we've already got a pile for."

"Okay. Andrew Browning."

"Yes." I reached for the credit card slip.

"Marisa Tus."

"Um… yes."

We went like that for a while- Claire jumped in when he had something of someone's on her side of the pile. Apparently Shannon had gone off to fish and when the sun started making its way downward Boone got anxious to know she was all right and left in search of her.

Sawyer approached us hesitantly. "Hey, uh..."

"Hey." She replied coolly.

"These were, um." He held a thick stack of wallets in his hand, no doubt looted from the plane. "I found these the other day when I was..." He gestured to the plane awkwardly, not meeting her eyes. "Aw hell, just, just take it." He looked at once ashamed and embarrassed as he handed them to her. Privately I was a little glad to see an emotion that wasn't self-satisfaction on him.

She gave him a real smile as he walked away. "Thank you."

The wallets were really helpful- we added faces to stacks of tickets and credit card receipts, and the wallets kept everything from flying away as the wind picked up. We decided to gather everything up and read it in whatever order we collected it, Claire had the bulk of it but some people that lost their travelling companions decided to say some words specifically. As the sun inched towards the horizon we moved our piles towards the fuselage and helped put together the smaller piles of wood that would set the plane ablaze. Claire thought it'd be nice to have a smaller fire in front to read by, and to put what we'd found in a bag for when we were rescued. Boone made a torch and Hurley found a nice durable hard backed suitcase with wheels, and Claire began reading names. I noticed Charlie came late, and Jack was sitting far away from the group, mourning in his own way I guess.

After we finished reading all the names Claire and I carefully packed up the suitcase and placed it inside our tube. It made a far better wall then my much smaller suitcase and had the added bonus of making Claire feel like the people we'd burned hadn't been forgotten. Locke had caught a boar and we celebrated the return of 'sustenance' as we remembered those we'd lost. The preparation was nothing fancy, boar roasted right over the spit, but it was hot and juicy and tasted like heaven after days of raw fruits and vegetables. Jack was still sitting by himself as we dug in, and after my initial appetite had gotten under control I picked off a couple good sized hunks of boar and placed them on a seatback tray. I stopped at our tube and grabbed some produce as well, and gingerly joined him.

"I brought you something." I said hesitantly, offering him the tray. I wasn't sure he wanted the company but I knew he needed to eat.

He tore his eyes away from the water. "I'm okay."

I sighed and sat next to him. "I haven't seen you eat or drink anything since we got here. Just have some of the meat if you're one of those doctors that don't practice what you preach." He smiled and tore a piece of meat off my tray. "I didn't think to ask, were you traveling with someone?"

He stiffened. "No." he replied shortly.

"Sorry, I guess that's kind of a personal question."

"It's fine." He took a larger piece this time and I inwardly cheered. "Where'd you find the plants?"

I felt myself puff up a little. "In the forest. Locke gave me a book of his, its pretty amazing."

He chewed thoughtfully. "What do you think his story is?"

I shrugged. "Cubicle worker by day and ninja assassin by night, probably coming back from his latest kill."

He started to choke on his boar. "Did you just think of that?" he asked wide-eyed, still coughing.

"I thought about it for a minute." I admitted, smiling. He laughed quietly; making my insides less solid then I'd have liked to admit. "Try some veggies- they're better then you'd think."

"That's reassuring." He grabbed a small okra anyway and popped it in his mouth. "Not bad."

I studied him for a moment. "Where were you headed?"

"Los Angeles. I was the chief resident at St. Sebastian's."

I set the tray on the sand, careful not to disturb the food on it. "Wow. Impressive. I'm here with a big-time spinal surgeon, the COO of a multimillion dollar company, a rock star and a ninja assassin. I feel like a slouch." I giggled.

"Where were you going?" He swallowed a spoonful of dragon fruit. "Wow, that's really good."

"It's my new favorite." I nodded "Home to Seattle. I work in a restaurant. They say I could be the manager if I quit taking vacations, but I like traveling too much."

He started rolling the bok choy into little cylinders and gnawing on them. "Yeah? Where've you been?"

I leaned back on my elbows. "England and Ireland, mostly the cities though since I wasn't old enough to rent a car. France, Italy. I've seen a little of Greece, Egypt and Romania. And Australia obviously." I grinned.

Finished with the tray, he leaned back with me. "Nothing in Asia?" he asked, sounding interested.

"I'd love to go to India, just can't find a guy that'll go with me." He looked at me, confused. "I wear a fake wedding ring when I travel; pretend my husband's waiting for me somewhere. It works as a deterrent for trouble but in India I'd need something stronger."

He nodded. "I spent some time in Thailand. It's something else."

"I think it's always good to get beyond your experiences."

He laughed. "This is one hell of an experience."

"Think I'll go somewhere landlocked for my next vacation." I agreed.

He turned to look at me seriously. "Do you really think we're going to get off this island?"

I looked at the sky while I thought about it. "I think I have to. Hope's a terrible thing to lose."


	8. Chapter 8

Morning came with more death. I was woken up by screaming in the ocean and activity on the shore. A woman went swimming at sunrise and got caught in a riptide. Swept out to sea Boone heard her cries for help and dove into action. Unfortunately he got caught in it too and for a few long, terrible moments I was sure he was gone. Jack ran at top speed into the water and swam like mad to reach him. He dove into the current and pulled him out coughing and snorting water. Kate and Charlie ran to help him onto the shore, and I hurried to see if he was okay. As I approached the water's edge however, I saw Jack going _back_ into the ocean.

"There was a woman" Boone wheezed, face down on the sand. "I was trying to get to her. I was a life guard."

I felt terrible as I couldn't hear the woman's screams. "The ocean's dangerous. Jack's going to her now."

Kate rubbed his back. "Just breathe okay?"

Unfortunately the current was too strong and she was drawn underwater before Boone was back to shore and by the time Jack got back out there she was gone. The woman's name was Joanna; she was on vacation from Vegas scuba diving the barrier reef. Her ear infection medication was one of the bottles in Jack's stash and was the reason she left two days later then she intended. I'd seen her around, getting water and pulling suitcases across the beach but never got to talk to her. Boone was devastated not only that he failed but that _he_ had to be rescued. Jack seemed upset too, but was far more vocal about it. Boone just sat on a mound of sand and stared out into the ocean. I sat next to him, my knee touching his, not saying a word.

"I was a lifeguard."

I shaded my eyes, watching Vincent the yellow lab run across the beach without a care in the world. "I can barely swim."

"I couldn't even give Rose CPR right." He dipped his head between his knees.

I moved to sit behind him, placing my hands on his shoulders. "When I was a kid my little sister had a sleepover. One of the girls had killer asthma and I spent all day cleaning the house and brushing the dogs to minimize the damage." I dug my fingers into his shoulders thinking of the panic I went through. "I stayed up all night waiting for the girl to have her windpipe close up because I didn't provide a safe environment."

"But the kid was okay right? You didn't kill her."

I got up on my knees to speak directly into his ear. "You didn't kill Joanna either. She made the choice to go swimming at the ass crack of dawn without telling anyone. Just because you couldn't save her doesn't mean her death was your fault."

His head lifted a fraction of an inch. "If I hadn't been out there Jack could have gotten to her."

I rubbed with more ferocity, willing the guilt to leave his body. "Jack made a choice too. He didn't even know she was there until you said something."

"I run a business." He said firmly. "Why is it I can't do anything right here?"

"Well that's just plain incorrect. You've been doing great taking care of Shannon, and you helped me get a bunch of plants I never would have been able to get to otherwise. Plus you protected me from polar bears and wild boar." I saw the sides of his face turn up a little, but it went away as soon as it came. "Listen, I know it's gotta be hard but you have to know it wasn't your fault."

We sat in silence for a few minutes. Jack walked up to the water in front of us and stood, staring out to the water much the way Boone was. "You're right. It's his." He stood up suddenly and raced up to Jack, yelling. "Why didn't you leave me? Hey, I'm talking to you"

I sat back on my heels. "Not at all what I meant." I sighed. The previous days suddenly hit me. I wanted to cry, die and crawl into a hole until I woke up from this crazy dream. I leaned forward, resting my head against the sand. _Childs pose, _I remembered from my stink of yoga classes. I don't exactly know how long I stayed there. I know I cried, saw the wet spots in the sand below me, but I felt like I was due, even if it dehydrated me. I heard Boone yelling at Jack; Jack yelled back but then walked off to Boone's supreme displeasure. I may have dozed off but I came back to earth when I felt someone poking my back.

It was Walt. "Your friend fell down." He said simply.

I shot to my feet. "Claire?" I asked, already on my way to our shelter.

He nodded, struggling to keep up. "She's in the doctor's tent."

My heart was in my throat. "Thank you." I replied, taking off in that direction.

"She just passed out." Charlie said helplessly as he met me at the entrance. "And we can't find the bloody water."

"Can't find it?" I couldn't help my voice rising. "How do you just misplace **all** our water?"

Sayid came in behind me. "We'd appreciate you keeping your voice down. We don't want to panic the rest of the group."

"I don't give a shit about the rest of the group!" I felt my nostrils flare. "My friend is _unconscious_ and you're telling me the water's just disappeared!"

I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to see Kate looking at me sympathetically. "Yelling about it isn't helping anything. Locke's gone to go look for fresh water for her."

I took a deep breath and stormed out of the tent, straight to our tube. I grabbed as many dragon fruits as I could carry in my folded up dirty t-shirt and placed the plastic knife and spoon in my pocket. As I reentered the medical tent I grabbed one of the seatback trays and silently sliced a fruit open, scraping the flesh around to get as much juice as possible into a little plastic cup. I looked up to see Charlie looking at me warily. "She's going to need liquids." I said stonily.

"Right. Course." He replied feebly. "I'm just gonna go through camp, see If there's a bottle we missed."

I nodded, turning my attention back to Claire. Her lips were chapped. _Why didn't I notice that sooner? _The fruits we had been eating had plenty of liquids in it but I kept making her eat vegetables. _Come on Claire, wake up._ She rolled her head to the side and her mouth opened a little. I quickly spooned a little juice carefully into her mouth and watched as it pooled in her cheek. _Well maybe she'll swallow eventually. _After a few minutes she did and I repeated the process until I exhausted my dragon fruit supply. I refused to leave her alone until she woke up though, so I sat with her and held her hand.

"Got some!" Charlie announced proudly, bursting in through the flaps I'd closed. Claire began to stir. "Hey." He said quietly.

"Hey." She smiled and looked between the both of our worried faces. "How long have I…"

"A couple hours." He replied.

I brushed her hair from her face. "Don't you ever do that to me again okay?"

He offered her the bottle of water. "Here It's not much but it's what we have." He refused to let her stand. "Just relax, you have to think about the little one now, you."

She ducked her head. "Thanks for the water, Charlie. And the juice?"

"Fresh squeezed." I joked. "Glad you're awake."

"There'd be more if some git hadn't nicked it"

I rolled my eyes. "I gave them an earful, let me tell you."

She smiled, then touched her stomach worriedly. "Is Jack back yet?"

I looked at Charlie curiously. _Jack's still not back?_ "He shook his head. "No. No one's seen him. But, I wouldn't worry. Good old Mr. Locke's gone into the jungle to get some water for you."

It was Claire's turn to roll her eyes. "Great. Our only hunter's going to get eaten just so he can get the pregnant girl some more water."

"I wouldn't worry, luv. I mean, you tell me, who would you rather meet in a dark alley, whatever's out there, or that geezer with his 400 knives? I mean, who packs 400 knives?" He looked at the two of us with a glint in his eye. "Personally, I can only have space for 200, 300 at most."

Claire giggled, but sobered quickly. "When are they going to rescue us?"

"Soon." I assured her. "I'm gonna go get some more dragon fruit, and some oranges. Charlie, can you stay with her?" He nodded. I quickly went to the closest grove of oranges I knew of, ran to get the dragon fruit and picked up some kiwis on the way back. I emerged from the forest behind the medical tent and was surprised that Boone was hovering around it nervously. "What's up?"

He jumped, and shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "Nothin, what's up with you?"

I eyed him suspiciously. "I just brought back some fruit for Claire. If there's no water I thought I'd make her some juice.

He nodded, eyes not meeting mine. "I heard Sawyer traded the Asian couple water, I think they're setting up a trap to find out if he's got more."

"Emma?" I heard Claire ask from inside the tent.

I slipped in the side. "I'm here. I come bearing gifts."

She watched me slicing the fruit quietly. "You know you don't have to do this."

"Do what?" I didn't look up from cutting.

"Any of this. I'm not your responsibility."

I put the knife down and studied her carefully. "No, you're not. You're my friend. My best friend for at least a few thousand miles. This is how I treat my friends, I don't know any other way."

She smiled softly. "Okay then."

"So are we going to do a dragon fruit/ kiwi juice blend? Or are you thinking juice shooters?"

She giggled. "I'll start with the oranges thanks." I squeezed out the rest of the fruits and would have gone on another trip but it had gotten dark and I didn't want to face the monster alone. The wind had picked up again and the flaps did little to keep the cold air out so I went back to our tube to get sweatshirts. On the way I passed a shifty looking Boone and then Charlie sitting by a fire near the tent. "Hey Charlie?"

He lifted his head. "Yeah luv?"

"Mind checking on Claire? Boone's been lurking and its weirding me out." I felt bad that I was putting so little faith in Boone but his behavior was flat out weird.

He nodded and quietly walked in that direction. By the time I dug out relatively sand-free sweatshirts and returned there was a small crowd outside the tent, all staring at Boone.

"Someone had to take responsibility for it. It would have never lasted!" He cried, before Charlie shoved him. Sayid stepped in to break up the fight but it was Jack's voice that caught our attention.

"Leave him alone!" He called firmly. "It's been six days and we're all still waiting. Waiting for someone to come. But what if they don't? We have to stop waiting. We need to start figuring things out. A woman died this morning just going for a swim and he tried to save her, and now you're about to crucify him?" Boone looked relieved _someone_ was coming to his rescue. "We can't do this. Every man for himself is not going to work. It's time to start organizing. We need to figure out how we're going to survive here. Now, I found water." I perked up, as did most everyone else. "Fresh water, up in the valley. I'll take a group in at first light. If you don't want to go come then find another way to contribute. Last week most of us were strangers, but we're all here now. And God knows how long we're going to be here. But if we can't live together, we're going to die alone."

The crowd didn't disperse right away, there was a moment of reflection as Charlie and Hurley passed out water. Charlie handed me a bottle fuller then most. "For you and Claire." He said quietly.

I replayed the scene for her in the tent; she'd heard most of it but we discussed the possibility of getting water together in the morning. "Absolutely no way are you going." I said firmly. "I'll go, bring back a water bottle just for us."

"I can walk you know." She said annoyed.

I took a sip from our bottle, savoring the cool water soothing my dry throat. "I know, and you'd probably be better balanced than anyone else with a pack full of water bottles on your back," I ignored her making a face at me. "but you were unconscious today for hours. The last thing you need to be doing is hiking in the jungle of mystery to get water."

"Fine, abandon the poor weak pregnant girl." She sighed, lying back on the makeshift cot.

I dipped my finger in the bottle and flicked a little water on her. "I'm coming back. You know I'd never leave you for long."


	9. Chapter 9

****

**So just to let any and all readers know that I'll be moving during the next few days, and settling in for about a week. (long story short, me & university were not meant to be) I have one more chapter pre-written and I want to not have a huge lag in updating so there'll be little lags instead. In that time, I'd as always LOVE reviews and pairing thoughts! Thanks for all your loyal support!**

* * *

I wanted to stay with Claire in the medical tent but it was also Jack's tent and I thought it'd be a little rude. I found out Charlie was planning on making the trek to get water too and asked him to wake me so I didn't miss them. I slept fitfully, waking up fully as I heard voices rising. Charlie was nice enough to have packed a bag for me, and as we approached I heard Jack and Kate bantering about his tattoos.

"It's not a big deal. It's just something I did. I had my reasons. And I don't want to put it out there." He looked a little uncomfortable, but not unwilling to stop the conversation.

She tilted her head flirtatiously. "It's just that you and your tattoos don't add up. Are you one of those hard-core spinal surgeons?"

He laughed. "That's me. Hard-core."

I heard Charlie sigh. "If you guys are finished verbally copulating we should get a move on." I barely reigned in a snort of laughter. "There's a whole beach of people waiting for us to get some drinking water for them. And the great white hunter's getting restless."

Jack seemed to come back to himself. "Okay, let's do this."

Charlie rolled his eye dramatically in their direction. "Nutters." I giggled.

"Hey, Charlie." Kate called laughingly. "Ask Jack about his tattoos"

"Oh, you guys have an inside joke." Charlie said sarcastically. "How absolutely wonderful for you both."

"Did you get any of them in Thailand?" I asked innocently.

Kate glanced between Jack and me, obviously surprised.

Jack glanced back and nodded. "Yeah, one of them."

"I'm too indecisive for a tattoo. I'd regret it the moment I got one." I said to the group, although I was pretty sure no one was listening. "Do you have any Mr. Rock God?"

Charlie looked surprised. "Just this one." He motioned to his left shoulder which read _Living is easy with eyes closed._

I nodded, impressed. "Very deep."

"It's from a Beatles song." Kate said boredly, picking up speed.

"_It's from a Beatle's song."_ I mocked quietly, making Charlie laugh.

We made our way to the valley in relative silence, punctuated by the napping of twigs and sounds of birds. "Water's this way." Jack said after a while.

"How'd you find this place?" Kate echoed my thoughts.

He replied simply. "Luck."

After a little climbing over roots the trail got flatter and more accessible. We followed him through a stone arch and came out into an area that seemed to be carved into the face of a rock, with small caves surrounding the freshwater stream he'd been talking about. I slid off my backpack and began opening water bottles, placing the lids carefully in an outside pocket to begin filling them.

"Hey guys?" I looked to see Charlie looking warily at a hunk of airplane the size of a Volkswagen. "shouldn't someone look through this stuff? Could be something useful in here."

Locke spoke up from behind him. "He's got a point." He said grudgingly.

Charlie looked surprised at the sudden vote of confidence. "I do?"

"Yeah." Jack agreed. "Bring me your bottles, and keep an eye out for any medical supplies, drugs in particular."

Charlie seemed dazed for a second. "Drugs. Right." He fidgeted for a moment and then turned to go search for wreckage.

After a few minutes Locke noticed he was gone. "Where'd he get off to?"

"To search for plane parts. Maybe he had to pee." I didn't look up from filling the bottle. It was taking far more concentration to get the water into the neck then I'd like to admit.

"I'll be back." He said shortly, and Jack and Kate soon followed him.

I shrugged. _Jeeze, a guy can't pee in peace anymore? _I thought to myself smiling. I filled all my water bottles and started to get working on the ones Charlie left behind. I heard crunching twigs in the direction they'd all gone.

"It's Charlie. He's standing on a beehive." Jack was out of breath, pulling bottles out of the large suitcase we'd brought. **(Where did that suitcase come from anyway?)**

I stood quickly. "I thought beehives were only in trees?"

He haphazardly rezipped the suitcase and took off back into the forest.

I followed him slowly, as I had already tripped over half a dozen roots and branches on the way up. I heard Charlie's yell and the ominous buzz of bees coming towards me. "Shit!" I turned and ran back towards the caves, the sound getting closer until I felt the telltale prick of a bee sting on my arm. I heard racing footsteps behind me, felt tiny feet crawling on me and when I got through the stone arch I'd hid my maximum bee tolerance and pulled off my shirt, whacking the bees still following me with it while backing away with Kate. We stopped against a large rock outcropping, panting and I enjoyed the cool touch of the stone against the beestings on my back. I closed my eyes and caught my breath, but when I opened them again I saw Kate looking like she'd seen a ghost.

"Don't turn around okay?" She said softly. "Jack! Come over here!"

I took a few slow steps away from the rock, _and then_ turned around. Lying with its mouth open as if screaming was a corpse, decomposed to the point only the skeleton and its clothes remained. I gasped, but the little pinpoints of pain from the beestings brought me back and I was momentarily thankful for them.

Jack made his way over, shirtless, and spared me a passing glance before fixing his attention of Kate. "You okay?"She nodded, then pointed to the skeleton. He climbed onto a ledge to get a better look.

"Who is he?" Kate asked, as if Jack really had the answer to everything. "How'd he get here?"

"I can't exactly perform an autopsy but there doesn't seem to be any major trauma to the bones."

I spotted a more peaceful looking body on the opposite side of the cave, lower than the male skeleton's resting place. "There's another one over here." I said, more calmly then I felt. "Someone must have laid them to rest here."

She looked annoyed that I'd spoken. "Who?"

"I don't know." I shot back

She addressed Jack who was still examining the man. "Where would they come from?"

"Didn't you guys shoot a polar bear last week?" he asked pointedly

She looked confused. "Yeah."

"Where'd that come from?"

I took a look at the other body, a woman by the style of her clothes. "Any idea how long they've been here?"

"Long." Jack studied me and it hit me how overexposed I was. "It takes 40 or 50 years for clothing to degrade like this." He reached into the man's pocket and pulled out a small pouch.

"What is it?" Kate asked. I picked up my forgotten shirt and pulled it on, dusting off what dirt I could.

I heard more footsteps. "Hello?" It was Locke. "Anybody there? Everyone all right?"

Jack nodded and placed the pouch in his pocket. "A few stings aside."

Charlie came into view, covered in beestings. "You two run away fantastically Glad my diversion spared you. And bloody hell where were you?" He looked at me accusingly.

"Filling up bottles. And running." I smiled "Those look like they hurt." I motioned to his stings.

"Yeah, well I was only stung several hundred times. Oh, and uh, someone left this" he said, handing Kate her shirt back.

"It was, um, it was full of bees" She looked uncomfortable.

Charlie grinned. "I'd have thought C's, actually." Kate fixed him with a stony glare. "Sorry."

I snickered and saw Jack doing the same.

"Bloody Hell!" he approached the bodies. "Are these the people who were here before us?"

Jack glanced worriedly at Locke and me.

"What are you talking about?" Locke quickly came towards the little alcoves.

Charlie looked uncomfortable. "Uh, just, you know, the, the, there could have been people here before us, right?"

Locke stared down Jack who looked away quickly. "Clearly." He said stoically. "But, who were these men?"

"Actually, I think this one's a woman." I pointed towards the person in the lower alcove. Locke looked to Jack who nodded.

"Our very own Adam and Eve." He sighed.

I scratched off a stinger and quietly went back to refilling bottles. After a moment Jack and Kate joined me while Locke inspected the bodies a little while longer. We didn't speak, Jack and Locke seemed deep in thought, and Charlie was too fidgety to talk to about anything other than why he was fidgety. Kate didn't seem to be my number one fan, which was fine as I wasn't hers either. As we packed up Locke suddenly spoke.

"I think one of us should stay and help Charlie salvage the wreckage." He said firmly.

Kate shrugged on her backpack. "You offering?"

"Sure." He replied "Give me a chance to get to know him a little better." He gave me a sharp look as I opened my mouth to volunteer to stay.

She nodded. "We should move out. People are probably getting thirsty." She walked by Jack who was still thinking intensely "What? "

He looked up hesitantly before speaking. "46 people need to drink a half gallon a day each." He said matter-of-factly. "Carrying all this water back and forth is going to be real pain in the ass."

"You're starting to make me regret volunteering." She joked

He sighed. "These caves make too good a shelter just to be used for burial." He pointed out. "Adam and Eve, they must have lived here. Their plane crashed, or maybe they were ship-wrecked. They probably found this place and knew they could survive here." Kate looked at him like he'd lost his mind. "Unlimited supply of fresh water, tree canopy keeps the temperature down, shields out the sun; the openings are narrow, easier for protection against predators. We don't need to bring the water to the people. We need to bring the people to the water. I think we could live here." He walked away with a spring in his step.

We made our way back to the beach in more or less a single file line. Kate went first, carrying both a backpack and a duffel bag, I went next with a backpack and my hobo bag across my front and Jack brought up the rear with a backpack and another duffel bag. About halfway back Kate stopped to tie her shoe. I leaned against a tree, breathing heavy.

"You checking me out?" _Excuse me?_ She was talking to Jack, who had the clear 'zoning out' look on his face. _Somebody has a high opinion of herself. _

He was snapped out of his daze. "What?"

She didn't look at him as she chuckled. "No harm in it."

He laughed. "Trust me, if I was checking you out, you'd know it."

"Yeah, so then what were you thinking?" She ran her eyes up and down his body. _Get a room._ "Right now."

"Well, I sure as hell wasn't thinking that." I snickered.

Not what she wanted to hear. "Don't stop to think, just tell me." She prodded.

"I was thinking that if we were living at the caves we could build a dam around that spring so that everybody could have fresh water and we could get the infirmary off the beach." He looked excited in the way people who are really passionate about something do, but Kate's disappointment put a damper on it. "You think it's a bad idea?

"No, no. It makes sense."

"But?" asked expectantly.

She roughly pulled back on her duffel bag. "No but."

I straightened up and began moving again, blowing a piece of hair out of my face.

"Good, because a lot of people are still hoping a rescue boat is going to show up." He pushed himself off the tree and followed me. "They're not thinking about their own safety. We're going to have a lot of convincing to do.

Kate sounded like a petulant child. "We? You still haven't convinced me yet."

Jack stopped to look at her. I touched his arm. "I'm convinced. Just not sure if Claire will be."

He smiled slightly. "We'll work on her."


	10. Chapter 10

**Bonus points for whoever gets the obscure Sawyer nickname!**

We were on the downward slope of the hill leading back to the beach and I picked up speed as I nearly rolled out of the bushes and into Sayid who was chopping wood with a formidable looking axe.

"It's about time. I am dying of thirst." I threw him a small water bottle and continued my way to the others, knowing everyone else was probably thirsty too and that Jack and Kate would want to talk to him about the caves.

I made a beeline for Claire, handing her the first bottle before handing some out to the small crowd gathering around me. When they dispersed I plopped into the sand next to her. "There's caves up there. By the water."

She looked at me curiously. "Oh yeah?"

I nodded. "Jack wants to move up there. It's a pretty sweet spot for island life."

She leaned back on her elbows. "But what about a rescue?"

"That's sort of the problem. I guess in theory we could have people man the signal fire, have them call when help comes." I knew the problem with trying to convince Claire to come was going to come down to the rescue vs. survival issue.

"I want to be here when we get rescued." She insisted.

I sighed. "Okay. Just think about it okay?"

She nodded. "Are you going to go?" She asked quietly.

I looked at her. "You trying to get rid of me?" I laughed. "Sure I'd like to, it's a nice place, cool, protected, but I'm just as fine here. And the beach has one thing the caves don't."

She looked curious. "Sand fleas?" she mocked.

"My best friend." I replied seriously. Her eyes teared up. "Oh no, don't cry! We just got you rehydrated!" I giggled.

She wiped the corners of her eyes. "It's the hormones," she mumbled. "I hardly ever used to cry."

"You pregnant women and your excuses." I stuck my tongue out at her and she laughed.

"It's true, I promise!"

I noticed Jack making his way from passenger to passenger on a course towards Claire and me. For some reason I couldn't quite put my finger on I didn't want to be there when he tried talking Claire into moving so I grabbed a few water bottles and wandered along the beach. I spotted Boone and Shannon splitting a water bottle. It was more like Boone giving Shannon his water bottle and hoping she'd save some for him. It didn't look like that was going to happen so I tapped him on the shoulder with a bottle and gave him one of mine, ignoring her glare. It looked like everyone had some water so I moved a little further down the beach and sat with my chin on my knees, a bottle on each side of me figuring if someone wanted some they could come grab it.

"Why the long face Tinkerbelle? Upset that the doc's chattin up your friend instead of you?" Sawyer crouched in front of me, grabbing one of my bottles.

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, I'm devastated. Take your water and go."

"You're too easy sugar pie." He sat next to me and took a long drink. "'Sides, everybody knows he and Freckles are goin' steady."

"Yeah, if they ever manage to get past- oh what did Charlie call it? Verbally copulating."

He tilted his head back and laughed. "You got a thing for the limey munchkin too?"

I rolled my eyes again. "Absolutely. I've gone crazy with sex-deprivation and now have a thing for every man on this island."

He leaned towards me. "I could help with that." He grinned, wiggling his eyebrows. "All ya had to do was ask Tinkerbelle."

I placed a hand on his shoulder and pushed him away. "Thanks for the offer but I'm good." I muttered.

"Where is Davey Crockett and the Lollipop guild anyway?"

"They're back at the caves." He tilted his head. "The water is right inside a bunch of small caves. Jack wants us to move up there tonight." He turned to look at me. "That's why he's talking to Claire. He's trying to convince her to come."

He studied me. "That gonna work?"

I shrugged. "Probably not. She wants to be here when we get rescued."

"You gonna pass up snuggling with the doc to stay with her?" He smirked.

I rolled my eyes. "I thought we established it was Kate that was doing this snuggling." I replied. "Although she didn't sound too excited about holing up in caves."_ Of course that may have something to do with the fact that she thought Jack was checking her out when he wasn't._

"Course not, then Prince Ali couldn't rub her magic bottle anymore."

"Sawyer!" I squealed, shoving him but laughing anyway. "I'd go if Claire did. It's a good place, plenty of water, shade, almost like a set of dorms as far as the setup goes."

"Except for the vines I'm sure it's just peachy." He took another swig of water.

I laughed. "Why do you always have to be so cynical?"

"Somebody's got to keep your wide-eyed optimism in check." He grinned and pushed some hair behind my ear. "Ya know kid, if you got rid of the Mowglina look, advertised the merchandise a little, you could give Freckles a run for her money."

I swatted his hand away. "Thanks for the advice."

He drained the last of the water and left it next to me as he stood. "Thanks for the brew squirt." He said and simply walked away.

I shook my head and sipped at my bottle. "Anytime Jim Bob." I muttered. I lay on my back; knees bent and considered the sky for a few minutes. The sun was still high and I felt my skin start to heat up uncomfortably.

"Hey Claire?" I shaded my eyes to look at her. "Think I'm going to go picking. Wanna come?"

She rolled herself into a standing position. "Sure!" she said excitedly. "Should I bring a bag?"

I shook my head. "Nah, I was just going to get a little bit, mostly to get out of the sun. You can bring the book though."

She nodded, holding her belly. "The all important book." She joked, holding it in front of her a-la Rafiki from the Lion King.

I nodded solemnly. "Feel special." I led her along an easier path slowly, mindful of her waddling, and came upon a little area with a variety of fruits and vegetables surrounding a large log. "Now you sit," I said, dropping my bag next to her, "and I'll pick."

"It's really beautiful here." She commented, looking up at the tree canopy. "Much cooler too."

I bounced on my toes trying to reach a pea pod. "Isn't it? Jack was saying it's the canopy that keeps the heat down around the caves."

She flipped open the book to a random page. "He mentioned that."

"And the fresh water."

She avoided my gaze, hiding behind the pages. "Mm-hmm."

I dropped my handful of peas into my bag and sat next to her. "I just want you to really think about it. If you go into labor, odds are you won't be able to walk to the infirmary."

"And if I'm not on the beach when the rescue arrives I could miss it." She lowered her book and stared at me seriously.

"Do you really think Kate and Sayid wouldn't come back to tell the rest of us?" I placed a hand on her wrist and brushed some hair out of her face. "And if it were a plane or helicopter we'd hear it even if they didn't."

She sighed and nodded. "I just don't want to miss it. I know it's silly, but I'm afraid if I'm not there they'll leave me."

I nudged her shoulder. "And miss out on the publicity? Pretty Australian pregnant girls look great on the cover of newspapers! You could start a career from all the pictures they'll take of you. Heck, after the baby they'll be begging you to do Playboy!" I laughed.

"Yeah, the pair of us, wearing Shannon's bathing suits." She joined in my laughter, almost falling off the log.

I stood and began scavenging the fruits and vegetables around the log. There wasn't a lot of any one thing but there was a relatively wide variety of produce so before picking more than a couple I picked one for me and one for Claire, to see if we'd like it. We returned to the beach near sundown with full stomachs and a very full bag which after grabbing enough produce to hold us until breakfast we decided to hand over to the people headed to the caves. Claire thought it would be a gesture that we weren't completely against moving there and that we wouldn't forget the people who did. I thought it might encourage those bringing the water to the beach to make us their first stop on the delivery route. I zipped up the bag and asked Doug, who had been sorting through IDs with us the other day to bring it to Charlie, hoping Charlie would share.

As the sun went down I started to get nervous since neither Claire nor I had built a fire yet, but we all ended up just sitting around the signal fire staring at each other. Overnight we'd lost half our group, and I felt so tiny and vulnerable lying out on the beach that night. It seemed so lonely and solemn in the firelight, and I think everyone felt a little bit betrayed at being abandoned for a nicer living arrangement.

When Claire and I made our way sleepily to our tube we curled up back to back as if to protect ourselves from the world that seemed to have gotten a little more menacing.


	11. Chapter 11

**May I just say how exhausting moving is? I feel like I'm going to fall asleep sitting up! So in regards to my pairing dilemma I think I'll try a little of everyone and whoever gets the best response will win Emma's heart! Or readers can come out of the woodwork (you know who you are) and tell me what they'd like to see in a review!**

* * *

Doug came by in the morning with fresh water and my bag back, he said Charlie was very thankful for the produce (apparently he'd shared) but that he wasn't feeling well so Doug was the water delivery boy. As he walked away Claire commented on how nice he was to have done all that for us but before I could respond Jack came by.

"Charlie gave us the fruits and vegetables you picked him, thanks." He seemed nervous or uneasy about something.

I shaded my eyes from the sun which had begun beating down. "Yeah no problem. It got me out of the sun." I smiled.

"I wanted to talk to you about that. Can I talk to you for a second?"

I looked warily at Claire. _What can't he say in front of her?_ I wondered. But she gave me a big smile so I agreed.

We'd only just gotten out of earshot when he turned suddenly and looked at me intensely. "You know you stay out of the sun at the caves." He said plainly.

I sighed. "I'm not the one who needs convincing. You should be talking to Claire." I turned to leave but he grabbed my wrist.

"If you left I think she'd follow." He nodded in her direction. "She's not your responsibility."

I yanked myself out of his grip. "You're absolutely right." I said loudly. "She's not my burden. It's not like we're all each other has out here because no one cares to know anything more about me then that I can pick a shitload of produce and no one wants to touch her with a ten foot pole because she's pregnant." I was drawing looks but it just fed my anger. "You know if we were any other species Claire could completely fend for herself. But then if we were any other species we wouldn't want to connect to each other on a level that we'd want to help each other out and I dunno, be able to survive a plane crash on an uncharted island. You're a doctor for Christ's sake, you sacrifice your time, your relationships, and your health for other people but when someone _without_ a medical license tries to do anything remotely altruistic it's completely unreasonable." I felt my nostrils flare and my hands begin to shake. "What happened to 'live together, die alone'? Or is making pretty speeches your true talent?" It was as if every mean thing I'd thought since stepping on the plane in Sydney had backed up and chosen that moment to unleash themselves.

I'd obviously caught Jack by surprise because for a moment he just stared at me. Then he said quietly, "We should talk about this inside."

I shook my head and the tears backing up in my eyelids dispersed. "I don't think there's anything left to talk about." I half stumbled, half marched back to Claire. "Want to get cleaned up? I need to cool off."

She nodded and grabbed a set of fresh clothes. "What was that?" She whispered loudly, looking at the 30-odd people on the beach staring at me.

"Tell ya when we get there." I muttered. The walk to my little bathing grotto had me thinking about the previous few minutes. When we arrived I joined Claire in leaning on a tree looking out into the ocean. "Did that really just happen?" I shut my eyes and leaned my head back.

She snorted. "I don't know what it was but it definitely happened." I opened my eyes to see her looking at me curiously. "What did he say?"

"He basically suggested that I abandon you to go live in the caves." I sighed, peeling off my shirt and shorts.

She positioned herself gingerly on a medium sized rock. "That doesn't sound like Jack." She said concernedly.

"He said that you're not my responsibility, and that he thought if I left you'd follow me. Like you're some lost puppy." I growled. "You're my friend. I don't abandon my friends!"

She rested her feet in the shallow water. "Well on the positive side, I don't think he'll ask us to come to the caves anymore." She giggled, slashing them a little.

I pulled one of my bathing suits out of my bag. "Probably not." I admitted, tying it over my bra and sliding the bra off. "You gonna clean up? I can keep an eye out for pervs if you want to change."

She nodded. "Hand me the bag?" she leaned towards me, one hand behind her and one on her belly.

"Of course!" I plopped it on her tummy and backed into the water slowly with the bikini bottom in my hand. As quick as I could I peeled off my underwear and pulled on the suit bottoms. Fishing my panties off the seabed before they were swept out to sea I wrung them out and left them on a sunny patch of tree to dry. Meanwhile Claire pulled a sports bra on over her tank top and threaded the tank out from under her, then pulled a skirt on over her shorts, shimmied off her bottoms and pulled on new ones. "Oh that's so smart!" I exclaimed. "Gonna have to try that next time!"

She smiled and dunked her dirty clothes in the water a few times, then wrung them out and added them to my drying branch. We made our way out of the rocky area and into the water with the more comfortable sand underfoot. The water felt so good on my grass irritated legs and I wanted to lie in the ocean and float away in the sensation. I scrubbed my arms and legs with sand, reveling in the faux-clean feeling. Claire splashed me and I kicked water at her and for a moment it felt like we were just two friends on vacation. _That's what Claire gives me_ I thought, _the ability to feel normal in this completely exceptional event._

After a mini-water fight which we considered a draw we headed back to shore and dressed, then wandered back through the forest to the beach. When we returned the camp was strangely empty but I figured people were finally figuring out that we needed to actively work towards our survival instead of hoping someone would come pick us up. Claire opted to take a nap- the salt water and epic water battle really took it out of her. I'd started running low on sunscreen so I thought I'd try to spend as much time as I could out of the sun before I'd stoop to begging Sawyer for some. As I saw a patch of okra and bok choy I thought of Jack and how I really should apologize or at least explain my word vomit. I got a little lost between my new dragon fruit tree and a spot on the trail near my kiwi tree but I found my way back eventually. I got curious when I heard panicky sounds as I approached the caves, and I entered the arch to see absolute chaos. A cave had basically collapsed on itself and rubble was everywhere. Kate was pulling rocks off the pile at a frantic pace and throwing them in the opposite direction. "What's going on?" I asked Walt.

"The doctor's stuck in the cave. The English guy went in to rescue him but now he's stuck too." He said simply.

People were watching Kate helplessly as if afraid to break her concentration and receive her wrath. I noticed she kept taking rocks from the bottom, which made no sense to me at all. I heard Michael trying to talk her into a break.

"You keep going at this pace you're going to kill yourself." He said worriedly.

"I'm fine." She insisted.

I came up behind them. "Doesn't it make sense to pull rocks off the top? I can climb up there."

"I've got it." Kate hadn't stopped moving, she kept hauling rocks but you could see the exhaustion setting in.

"Kate!" I pulled upon my high school drama experience and made my voice as loud as I could without truly yelling. "Let me go on top and I'll hand you stones. We can give them some fresh air and buy them time." My volume had the desired effect. She stopped and considered my words for a moment. After consideration she nodded. Even though we had a mutual aversion to each other in that second we made a truce. I carefully climbed up the rubble-covered entrance and pulled the highest rock I could down and dropped it to Kate. She caught it relatively easily and passed it along the line. After a few rocks Hurley, Michael and Boone joined her and I pulled them down as fast as I could. A particularly large rock threw me off balance and I slid down the rock slope.

A strong hand wrapped around my thigh and another steadied my back. "I gotcha." Boone's breath hit my calf and I suddenly wished I'd shaved.

I dropped the rock into Hurley's waiting hands and turned to grin at Boone. "Thanks."

Vincent's bark startled me. "Hey it's the doctor!" Walt cried, pointing around the corner of the cave outcropping.

Boone helped me down as the group mobbed Charlie and Jack.

"Ow, easy. My shoulder, careful." Jack said as Kate flung her arms around him.

I ran at Charlie and squeezed him tight. "I'm so glad you're okay!" I cried. Charlie grinned sheepishly.

Hurley patted Jack's shoulder carefully. "How'd you get out?" he asked

"Charlie," he replied, clapping Charlie's shoulder with his good arm. "Charlie found a way out."

Hurley offered his hand for a high-five. "Dude, you rock."

After the initial relief wore down Hurley grabbed some water for Charlie and Jack, and I tried looking for my bag. Locke came around the arch dragging another boar behind him and I remembered the cinnamon I had picked because it smelled nice. I passed Boone at the spring on the way to where I thought I left it and asked if he wouldn't mind waiting for me when he went back to the beach. He didn't, but I figured I'd hurry anyways. Locke half-smiled at me when I gave him the cinnamon, almost like he knew I'd be the one to get it for him. The sun had gone down so the fire added light, and I squinted my eyes to look for Jack. I saw him sitting with Kate, who left after they seemed to have a moment. She walked right through the arch, not once looking back and I mentally steeled myself for the conversation I was about to have.  
"I brought a peace offering." I said, holding my bag in front of me. "It's not quite an olive branch but I think it tastes better."

Jack looked up and smiled tiredly. "You're not going to bite my head off this time?" he said sarcastically.

"I don't do that very often I promise." I replied sheepishly, taking a seat behind him. "I was just stressed and took it out on you. Which you don't deserve."

He reached into my bag and pulled out an okra which he took a bite out of while fixing me with an intense look. "Want to tell me what it was about?"

I sighed and looked away. "I don't abandon my friends. I'm getting along just fine right now, as long as someone lights my fire for me," here he chuckled, "so it's not really about what I want or need, it's the people I care about's wants and needs."

"So you two knew each other before."

I shook my head. "Nope, met on the beach. I just knew she'd be a friend. I don't do well without friends." I admitted.

He pulled out another okra and nodded. "People need human contact." He said thoughtfully. "I'd still like you two to come live here. Outbursts and all."

I looked around. "Looks like there's no more room at the inn." I joked.

"We'll make some." He said simply. "Are you heading back to the beach tonight?" I nodded. "You'd better get going, Michael's staying here tonight and I think Boone's leaving now."

I looked up and Boone _was_ filling his water bottle and adjusting a backpack. "He said he'd hold up for me but I shouldn't keep him waiting." I replied. "These are for you; I can put them wherever you're sleeping." He motioned to the cave nearest the spring with medical supplies spilling out of it. I unloaded my bag onto an airline tray and grabbed some of the full water bottles to put into it. I filled up my bottle and turned to go. "I'll keep working on Claire." I promised.

"You do that." He smiled, waving with his good arm.

On my way out I passed Charlie and gave him another hug. "You were so brave." I said quietly, and he blushed.

"Ready?" Boone asked, and at my nod we made our way back through the jungle to the beach. "What were you talking to Jack about?" he asked after the sounds of the caves faded away.

"My insane ranting this morning." I replied, tripping a little over the roots. "For the record I think I was invaded by angry island spirits."

He laughed. "He deserved it- he's acting like a malevolent dictator about this whole caves thing. It's like he's so sure his way's the right way that he's surprised when someone disagrees with him."

"Screaming at him about evolutionary traits of humans probably wasn't the way to go about disagreeing though."

"Maybe." He stopped and lit the slope in front of me with the torch he'd brought. "Sure was entertaining though."

I laughed a little breathlessly. "That's me, here for your entertainment."

We walked a little further in silence, then "Are he and Kate really a thing?"

I shrugged, though he couldn't see me. "She's sure trying. Breaking out all her feminine wiles on him."

He laughed but grabbed my shoulder to steady me when I tripped again and swore loudly. "Feminine wiles?" he kept a hold of my wrist as we kept moving.

"You have a sister; you should be very familiar with them." I shot back, twisting my arm to grab his wrist as I tripped yet again. _Never walking through here at night again_ I vowed.

"I guess." He sounded sullen and I sensed issues again.

"For the record I don't have any."

"Any what?" We turned around a boulder and I was relieved to see the beach fire's light illuminating its smoke in front of us.

"Wiles. I lack the grace and foresight." I said simply.

I heard him snicker. "Well you can be pretty inelegant." He agreed, bobbing his head. "But I think you've got some deep down."

I giggled. "And if I miraculously discovered them?"

He stopped at the tree line and looked at me intensely. I felt like he had tractor beams shooting out of his insanely blue eyes. "The rest of us would be helpless to resist."

"Boone!" Shannon's voice pierced the air. I noticed our hands had slipped from their wrist holding and were almost interlocked.

He rolled his eyes and began shrugging off his pack, releasing my hand in the process. "What Shan?"

"Where the hell have you been?" She stomped over to us and gave me an appraising look that I clearly came up short with before glaring accusingly back at her brother.

He sounded exasperated. "I told you, there was a cave in and I helped dig them out."

"Well your stupid transmitter thing didn't even work. Sayid's not even back yet." She snapped.

"Did you set the rocket off at the right time?" his glare was just as potent as hers.

"What now it's my fault?" She shrieked. "You're the one who just ran off without telling me how to work the damn thing."

"I told you exactly what to do, you just ignored me. Just like you always do because you're too superior to listen to what anyone else has to say." He started to walk away but she was hot on his heels, firing accusations back at him.

"Thanks for walking me back." I muttered uselessly.


	12. Chapter 12

I was really glad I'd brought water from the caves last night because our morning delivery was running behind. I silently cursed being south of the equator, as every day I was getting more sun and using more sunscreen then the day before. At the rate I was going I'd need to visit Sawyer's general store within the next couple of days, something I was dreading.

"What do you thinks' the going rate for sunscreen around here?" I asked Claire thoughtfully. We were sitting on our plane seats wearing light broomstick skirts and kurtis as well as bucket hats to shield us from the sun as much as possible.

"Shannon tried getting bug spray from him the other day." She replied, peeling a banana. "I heard he asked for $5000 American or a roll in the hay."

I snorted. "What kind of hookers does he see? I wonder if he takes food- that I could deal with."

She chewed her fruit thoughtfully. "Maybe. I don't think he does much but guard his collection; he could probably use the food. I think he traded the Asian couple water for fish."

"Maybe I'll go ask him for his sunscreen cost. See if it's worth it."

She nodded. "I think he's down that way." She pointed. "He took Jack's tent when he left."

I pushed myself off the seat with a little reluctance and headed his direction. "Do you need anything?" I called, walking backwards.

"A warm bath!" she replied jokingly.

* * *

"What can I do for ya squirt?" Sawyer barely looked up from his book to address me.

"Just checking on the going rate of sunscreen Huck." I replied boredly.

That got his attention. "Huck?" He raised an eyebrow at me.

I smirked. "You give me a nickname, I give you one."

He set his book down and stretched his legs out in front of him. "I dunno if you've got anything I want." He replied, crossing his arms over his chest.

"That's why I'm asking for your price." I rolled my eyes.

He tilted his head. "Hear you do some tradin' yourself Tinkerbelle." his glasses slid down his nose a little. "Got yourself one of Stick's suits."

I didn't like where this was going. "Yeah. So?"

He grinned. "Think I'm in the mood for a fashion show."

"And how much sunscreen would that buy me?" I asked skeptically.

He leaned back and looked me up and down appraisingly. "Depends on what you're doin."

I exhaled sharply. "You know what I'd really like? A straight answer. Say I go change into that scrap of fabric masquerading as a bathing suit and come prancing down the beach. Is that going to get me a bottle of sunscreen?"

He placed his hands behind his head. "Nah, but I'd put some on ya; make sure you didn't get burned."

I tossed my hands in the air. "You're a creep- I hope you know that." I said, walking away.

"Nice talkin to ya squirt!" he called laughingly.

* * *

I returned to the 'normal' section of the beach to see Charlie and Claire sitting at the water's edge talking. "So what was the price?" she asked interestedly.

I shivered dramatically as I sat. "my dignity." I giggled. Charlie looked confused. "I asked Sawyer how much for some sunscreen- I'm running out."

He nodded. "You don't need much sunscreen in the caves." He said slyly.

I leaned back on my hands. "Preaching to the choir buddy."

"Yes, I'm the non-believer here." Claire said, dramatically rolling her eyes.

"We'll get you to drink the kool-aid one of these days." I fired back, sticking out my tongue.

"I miss processed drinks." Charlie said sadly.

"I miss indoor plumbing." I said seriously.

Claire looked thoughtful. "I miss level walkways."

"The smell of clean clothes." I countered.

"Banoffee pie."

"Clean hair."

"Pasta!"

"Shrewsbury cake."

"A real bed."

"Facials."

"Scotch pie."

"CD players."

"Movies."

"Rag Pudding."

"Pedicures."

"Warm fluffy towels."

"Uh, banoffee pie."

Claire and I looked at each other. "You already said that." She said.

Charlie was lost in his fantasy food world. "Toffee and cream, mmmm."

I snorted and Claire rolled her eyes. " Is food the only thing that you miss?" She asked.

I nudged her. "You're the one who's pregnant."

Charlie nodded. "Don't you crave anything? Pickles, fried ice cream, chocolate?" He teased.

She thought for a moment. "Peanut butter." She replied finally. "I'm the only Australian who loves peanut butter."

"Yeah you guys do vegemite over there huh?" I shuddered. "Nasty stuff."

"I could get you peanut butter." Charlie said suddenly.

She looked at him skeptically. "Yeah, sure you can."

" Yes, I can." He insisted. " And when I get you peanut butter you have to vacate this sandy shore of depression and move to the caves." He smiled triumphantly. "Deal?"

She considered him. "Deal."

I laughed. "Now shake on it, make it official."

They seriously shook hands and he immediately got to his feet in search of peanut butter. We watched him scurry off into the jungle as Jack and Kate walked by, seemingly very upset about something.

"I'm pulling for a magical stash of peanut butter just so you know." I lay onto the sand and covered my face with my hat.

"I know." She replied. "I know you think I'm silly by insisting to stay out here but I want to be here for the rescue."

I sighed. "I get that. I really do. I guess I'm just an optimist and think somebody will mention there's a whole other group of people living in the jungle when we do get rescued."

Claire lowered her voice. "I don't think Charlie believes we'll get rescued."

"I think statistically speaking our odds didn't look very good at first because we were so far off course. But I think when they can figure out exactly what happened to us we've got a decent change as long as they don't give up." I leaned on my elbows and looked out into the ocean.

Claire looked horrified. "They'd just give up? Leave us here to die?"

I sat up fully. "No no no! Boone and Shannon are trust fund kids- his mom owns a wedding empire. She's got the money to keep looking for them, and while Shannon'd probably leave us for dead Boone sure wouldn't."

She relaxed a little, then grinned. "You didn't tell me what happened on the way back from the caves last night."

"I didn't?" I asked nervously.

She shook her head and the small grin turned into a full-blown teasing smile. "Nope. Just that Charlie was Superman and Jack hurt his shoulder."

"Well it was weird." I admitted. "We talked a little bit, about Jack, then if Jack and Kate had a 'thing'. I basically tripped the whole way home."

Claire looked at me curiously. "That doesn't sound weird."

"Well I said something about Kate busting out the charm on Jack, and that I didn't have charm."

She giggled. "You do too, just not typical charm."

"Well he said something like I do, just buried deep inside me. So I asked what would happen if I found it all of a sudden. And he stops and stares at me. Like really stares and says 'The rest of us would be helpless to resist.' Weird right?"

She studied me for a minute. "I think Jack and Kate aren't the only ones with a 'thing'." She said in a sing-song voice.

"Pssh!" I cried, falling back against the sand. "He is smoking hot, but I think this whole situation is creating artificial intimacy. But it was weird. Don't know how I feel about it."

She stroked her belly. "I like it. We pregnant girls don't get any romance." She sighed.

I lightly whacked her arm. "What about your British knight in grubby stripes, off crusading for peanut butter? If that's not romance I don't know what is!"

"Charlie's just being sweet. He said he worries about me out here." She insisted.

"Worries about _you_ not _us_" I teased, glad to no longer be on the defensive.

"I don't think it's like that."She said quietly.

I considered her expression for a moment. "Why not? You're adorable; ridiculously sweet and unlike some people don't use your condition as an excuse to lie on the beach all day." She smiled. "Speaking of Shannon, I wonder where she is. It's not like her to miss out on these rays."

She shaded her eyes and scanned the beach. "Hmm, you're right. I don't see Boone either. Maybe they're getting water or going on another hike."

"See this is why I love you," I leaned against her. "You assume the best of everyone."

She smiled. "It's a life choice." She giggled.

"You know it's getting really warm. I don't want to have to choose between begging for sunscreen and burning to a crisp. Wanna get out of the sun and go picking? Or we could just chill- there's a little bamboo grove that's shady we can loaf around in."

She nodded. "Maybe tomorrow we could go swimming again; it was really fun yesterday."

We wandered through the forest, occasionally picking some fruits and vegetables and resting under the dense canopy. There was something really low-key about it all which was a relief after yesterday's intensity. We found a new orange grove and Claire wasted no time in picking as many as she could reach.

"Jeeze!" I laughed. "Forget peanut butter, I think it's oranges you're craving."

She didn't look up from peeling. "They're really good okay?" she said defensively.

"I know they are, I'll just be surprised if you don't give birth to an orange baby." I giggled. Suddenly we heard a pained scream which made us both jump.

"What was that?" She asked worriedly.

I blinked. "I dunno. It came from over there," I motioned in the direction of the bamboo grove we were near. "People are always chopping wood there- maybe they hit themselves?"

She looked at me wide-eyed. "Do you think they need help?"

"Probably." I wasn't thrilled with the idea of rescuing an axe-wound victim. "We _should_ go check it out huh?"

She nodded, obviously as excited with the prospect as I was. "It could be really serious."

We carefully creeped towards the grove, every snap of a twig or rustle of wind causing us to grip each other's hands tightly. Reaching the grove I didn't hear moans of pain but I thought I heard heavy breathing other then Claire and I's. Stepping fully into the clearing I spotted a seated figure leaning against a large shoot, head tilted against its chest. I recognized that head. "Sawyer?" I whispered loudly.

"Tinkerbelle to the rescue." He said humorlessly.

I noticed the blood on his face and his hands tied behind his back. "What the hell did you do?"

He snorted. "What did I do? I'm tied to a tree getting splinters shoved in my fingers and you wanna know what I did? I whooped a thief cuz he was going through my stuff. Then I get hit over the head and wake up in the jungle of mystery getting water boarded."

Claire stood back worriedly. "Are you okay?"

"Just fine sweetheart. All according to plan."

I stepped away from him. "Ah. Well then we'll leave you to your plan then. Just wanted to be sure you weren't bleeding to death from an axe to the head."

He grinned. "Well now that you mention it I got a mighty powerful itch. Think you could get it for me?"

"Can I have some sunscreen?" I replied sweetly. A rustle in the forest behind me made me turn.

"Better scram kiddos, the grown-ups got some negotiating to do." He smirked.

Claire and I rolled our eyes at him. "Have fun getting those splinters out." I said as we ambled out of the grove.

The run-in with Sawyer sort of ruined our enjoyment of the forest, so we headed towards the beach after getting our bearings. We were almost on sand when we ran across Jack and Sayid. "We just saw Sawyer. What did he do?"

Jack ran his hand over his face. "He has Shannon's asthma medication. She ran out and starting having attacks this morning."

"That explains why she's gone." Claire piped up.

"I don't know if he's just a masochist but I don't think he has them." I said thoughtfully. "Seemed liked he had a different end-game then giving something up." That earned me an uneasy look from Jack and a glare from Sayid. "But what do I know?" I corrected quickly, turning back to Claire. "We should head back, maybe Charlie's found some peanut butter."

She took the hint. "Yeah, wouldn't want to miss that." She agreed quickly. "Let's go."

Once we got out of earshot we burst into conversation.

"What was that?"

"Did you see Jack's face?"

"Jack's face? I thought Sayid was going to tie you up to a tree next!"

"What's Sawyer's issue anyways? You'd think he likes being hated?"

She shrugged, stumbling a little on a mini sand dune. "I don't think he's used to being part of a group."

"Yeah, he does have that lone-wolf vibe." I nodded. Coming into view of our tube I was surprised to see Charlie piling Claire's stuff into a suitcase.

"What are you doing?" she asked, waddling a little faster.

He didn't look up. "Packing your stuff," he said with finality. "You're moving to the caves."

I got excited. "No way!"

She looked at him disbelievingly. " You didn't. Peanut butter?"

He grinned proudly. "Just like you ordered. Oh, there is one thing." He began to look nervous "It's extra smooth."

"That's okay." She bounced a little, excited.

I went into the tube to grab my suitcase and heard her voice get disappointed.

"It's empty."

" What? No, no it's not." I poked my head out to see him opening an empty jar. " It's full, full to the brim, with stick to the roof of your mouth, oh, god, makes you want a glass of milk extra smooth."

"I like extra crunchy myself. More for you two I guess." I laughed, throwing my water bottle and sunscreen into my bag with the food we picked.

"Why it's the best bloody peanut butter I've ever tasted. You want some?" He offered her the jar and she warily stuck her finger into it.

At his hopeful look I saw the defeat in her eyes and she giggled. "You're right, it's extra extra smooth." She said after mock-tasting the imaginary peanut butter. "Yummy."

I smiled at them. "well then let's get this show on the road!"

Claire tried carrying her own suitcase but Charlie wasn't having any of it. I had her carry my bag, it was light and she crossed it over her chest so she had the illusion of of self-sufficiency. At a few points poor Charlie had to stop, walk over a rough patch of trail, guide Claire then me through it and then go back to bring the suitcase. In all likelihood it took us at least twice as long to get to the caves as it normally would but when we finally did get there we were welcomed rather warmly. I was surprised at the difference in atmosphere between the caves, where everyone seemed to work together and care about each other and the beach, where it was every person for themselves. Charlie got our stuff settled into the back of a cave as Claire and I spotted a place near the central fire we made our way towards. I noticed Boone and Shannon sitting at another smaller fire which piqued my curiosity so I thought I'd check on them.

"I heard you guys had a scary day." I said quietly, noticing how she seemed to cling to him. Odd, since the whole time we'd been here I only saw her pushing him away.

Shannon smiled brightly. "Just a false alarm. I'm fine now." She shot Boone a sharp look.

"Well I'm glad. Claire and I were going to go swimming, well we end up wading around really, tomorrow. If you're up to it you should come."

She nodded. "Yeah definitely."

"See how you're feeling tomorrow Shan." Boone warned.

She rolled her eyes. "I'm fine." She insisted.

"Are you spending the night here?" I asked, looking between them.

They seemed to have a silent conversation between themselves. "We're waiting for Jack, then we're going back to the beach."

I nodded. "Okay. How about I pick you up when I bring down water?"

"Sounds good." She looked at him. "And I don't need a babysitter."

"You're not going unless Jack says you're okay." He insisted.

She rolled her eyes. "I'm fine Boone. God, you're not my keeper."

I could tell he had more he wanted to say but held his tongue, maybe to keep from embarrassing her, so I excused myself so they could argue properly.

"I invited Shannon to go swimming with us tomorrow." I told Claire as I plopped next to her.

Charlie looked up from his guitar. "Swimming? You're not going alone are you?"

She shook her head. "of course not. I'm going with Emma and Shannon." She smiled at him winningly.

He was not amused. "You need a lifeguard or sommat. Shouldn't be out there by yourself."

"You could come oversee us if you're that worried." I conceded. "I have a feeling Boone will demand on following Shannon though."

"Brilliant!" he grinned. "I'll bring my swimmers!"

**Alrighty- I've got a beach party next chapter but I'm not sure what's all in store for Emma & co. If anyone's got juicy ideas I'd love to hear them!**


	13. Chapter 13

**In case anyone's wondering the bikini Emma wears is basically the Victoria's Secret Very Sexy Bandeau top and side-tie Tanga bottom in smoking grey. The web address is ridiculously long so I'm going to try putting it on my profile in case people are really dying to see it.**

Claire and I woke up later than usual the next morning, the canopy shielded us from the rising sun but the close quarters made the sound of activity an alarm clock of its own. We shared the oranges and other fruits with the group, even the Asian couple who seemed a little confused as to the reason for the generosity. I got giddy for some reason as I filled up my water bottles and loaded up my bag.

"So you made it." I turned to see Jack leaned against the outside of a cave.

I grinned. "Yup. Charlie got Claire convinced, we moved in last night."

"You headed to the beach?" I nodded. "If you want to wait I can go with you. I need to check on some people down there."

I considered it. "Okay I guess. Whenever you're ready."

I relaxed on a log listening to Charlie play his guitar as I waited. "You're _really_ good." I commented as he finished a song. "I played violin in school but I wasn't what you'd call talented. How long have you been playing?"

"Guitar? Since I was about seven. I started on the piano when I was five though. It's all pretty much the same when you get down to it though." I could see how much music was his element; he probably knew guitar like Jack knew scalpels.

"Do you take requests?" I asked smiling.

He looked excited. "Course. Consider me your island jukebox."

"Ready?" I turned to see Jack with a weighed down pack and an outstretched hand.

"Yeah." I replied, taking his hand and pulling myself up. "So Claire knows where we're going, wait like maybe ten minutes, and then head out okay?" Charlie nodded.

Jack and I walked through the more difficult terrain without a lot of talking, but when we passed the trio of trees Kate checked him out at I snorted at the memory.

He turned around. "What?" he asked smiling.

I shook my head. "Nothing, I was just thinking about how you broke Kate's heart when you told her you weren't checking her out."

He shook his head. "I wouldn't say that." He replied.

"Maybe not, but she looked pretty devastated."

"I think she's gotten over it." He sounded a little bitter so I tried changing the subject.

"I hear Shannon had a health scare. Is that who you're checking on?" I panted a little. Jack's taller than me, with longer legs. There's only so much I could keep up without getting out of breath.

He slowed down a little which I was insanely thankful for. "Sawyer got cut yesterday. I've got to change his bandages."

I nodded. "Oh. Well Boone wasn't going to let her come swimming with us if she didn't get a clean bill of health."

"I checked her out last night and she's fine. Sun has this slave, she made it from eucalyptus. It helped almost instantly. It's probably not an equal substitute for her medication but it's the best we're going to get on this island."

Getting to the beach Jack and I parted ways and I handed out a few of the bottles I brought, saving the rest for Claire, Shannon and I. When I found her Boone was nowhere to be seen and she suggested we make a break for it. We hurried down the beach before going into the forest to get to our swimming spot.

Shannon broke our silence. "What suit are you wearing?" she asked.

I felt myself blush. "I packed two. One I already had and the one of yours."

"Oh you should totally wear mine!" She borderline squealed. "I got it at this boutique in Sydney and I didn't even get to wear it yet."

We came to our swimming spot and I dropped my bag on a rock. "It's just a little more revealing then I'm used to." I explained.

She shrugged. "You can pull it off. I can tell. Boone says I'm useless but one thing I know is style."

I studied her for a minute. "Do you want to go picking with me one of these days? People keep harping on me to use the buddy system but Claire's a little delicate to be exploring new produce spots."

"I resent that!" I heard Claire call. Turning I saw her meandering through the last few feet of forest, Charlie at her side with her bag in his hand.

"Trust me; I'd love to see you scaling a tree. Just don't think it's going to be happening for a while." I laughed.

She giggled as well and even Shannon cracked a smile. "Charlie could you stand guard? We're going to change."

He nodded nervously. "Right. Stand guard. Course." He turned around and walked a few feet into the forest where he stood ramrod straight.

Shannon stripped naked, completely self-assured and Claire and I shared a look. We more timidly went down to our underwear, then quickly pulled on our suits. I caved and put on Shannon's suit, feeling ridiculously overexposed. "You look great!" Claire exclaimed, pulling on her bikini bottoms. I envied the coverage of her simple black two-piece.

"Told ya you could pull it off." Shannon said smugly in an orange cut out one-piece. It made sense now why she had to strip all the way down to put it on- I'd never have figured out how to get into it!

"It's all clear Charlie! You can come out now!" I called, stuffing my clothes back into my bag.

Poor Charlie seemed completely out of his element, which surprised me. You'd think being a rock star he'd be used to half naked women. Shannon immediately waded into the ocean and began twirling around, sending streams of water flying off her outstretched fingertips. Claire and I linked arms and waded out into deeper water, giving Charlie a semblance of privacy while he took off his shirt. He shyly followed us to the deeper water, not meeting anyone's eyes.

"Charlie." Claire whined a little, kicking water at him. "Relax."

He shook his now wet hair out of his eyes smiling. "If anyone should be uncomfortable here it should be me." I joked, making him smile.

"God, are you guys just going to stand there?" Shannon sighed loudly. Although rude it did the trick, Charlie and Claire clomped into the deeper water after her.

I scooped up some sand to scrub my arms and upper body. The good thing about being next to naked was that I had much better access to the parts that hadn't been even halfway washed since leaving Australia. I faced the open ocean and stretched and squirmed to try reaching that evasive spot between my shoulder blades. I thought I saw movement in the trees but a gust of wind hit me and I chalked it up to that until I reached back into the water to grab more sand. I caught a glimpse of dark hair between leaves.

I sighed. "Ollie Ollie oxen free!" I yelled, cupping my hands around my mouth. To my complete lack of surprise Boone stepped out of the trees followed by the much more unexpected Jack.

Shannon stomped towards them, the water splashing around her feet like mini tidal waves. "I said I didn't need a babysitter." She shrieked.

"You could have an attack." He fired back. "You should get checked out."

Jack looked worn out. "How about you guys join us?" I suggested. "You look like you could use a break."

The guys each thought about it. "Okay." Boone agreed, pulling off his shirt and kicking off his shoes. He waded into the water and immediately splashed Shannon, starting a water fight.

I turned back to Jack. "The caves can survive an hour without you." I wheedled.

He smiled. "Alright."

_Welcome to Hot Guy Island. _I thought with satisfaction, as Jack peeled off his shirt as well. Charlie was the leanest of the three of them, but I didn't really judge; I'd be a total marshmallow if I were a guy. Jack was built, but a little hairy for my tastes. I liked them like Boone- sleek lines on a solidly muscled body, the less hair the better. _Not that I'd turn any of them down if they offered to buy me a drink. _I did of course feel exponentially more exposed then when it was just us girls, but checking out the guys somehow made me feel more secure.

That is until I noticed Jack looking me over in a very Sawyer-esque way. I remembered what Kate said the other day. "You checking me out?" I tilted my head to the side and cocked my hip. "No harm in it." I lost my composure and busted out laughing.

He grinned widely and ran into the ocean apparently determined to displace as much water onto me as possible. I ran after him towards the mêlée. Charlie seemed to be trying to protect Claire from the more violent sprays, but she looked like she was the one setting off the biggest waves. Shannon had pulled her arms in defensively but kicked water at Boone and Charlie fiercely. I cupped water carefully in my hands and soaked Charlie's whole upper body, although I was aiming for Claire. He in turn splashed me back, which hit Jack as well and put me in the middle of two hostile splashers. I covered my face and dashed out of the way as best I could with salt water and wet hair in my eyes, and ended up running smack dap into Boone, who caught me around the waist, spun me around and dunked me below the water entirely.

I came back up coughing and sputtering. "Jerk!" I cried, trying to regain my footing. I got myself balanced again and wrung out my hair, but a particularly rough wave threw me backwards into Jack.

"Whoa there." He said, one hand on my shoulder the other on my hip. I suddenly noticed the wind picking up and dark rainclouds started rolling in and I shivered. I saw that Shannon and Boone were making their way back to shore, gripping each others' hands tightly. Charlie and I each put a hand on Claire's shoulder to keep her steady but after another swell sent me stumbling forward Jack grabbed my upper arm firmly.

The four of us said goodbye to Shannon and Boone after redressing, and Charlie led us back to the caves carefully, Claire and I behind him, Jack bringing up the rear. I held us up a little, picking some produce as I passed it, but avoided going on an all-out picking spree by promising myself to come back this way again soon. Claire and I were munching on bananas as we entered the cave arch, and Jack was immediately mobbed by a couple who were convinced they had a tropical flesh eating disease. After setting our stuff out of the way Charlie brought out his guitar and began playing and humming quietly. The Asian man, whose name I learned was Jin, brought me a fish that had already been cleaned and gutted. I assumed he thought he owed me for this morning so I tried refusing but he was just as insistent as that day on the beach so after a serious look from Charlie I thanked him slowly and loudly, feeling like a complete idiot the whole time. Locke had set up a makeshift grill with an air vent from the plane and I figured I'd grill it until it looked 'right' and then a few minutes longer just to make sure it was safe for Claire to eat. We split the fish with Charlie; while it was a little dry it was a change of pace from pork which was great in and of itself. I was pointed in the direction of our trash fire, where all the 'compostables' were disposed of and ran into Jack on my way back.

"Will they live?" I asked jokingly.

He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "It's just hives. Heat and stress; not a lot I can do."

I nodded. "Maybe a swimming day like today would help." I offered.

"Maybe." He shrugged and massaged his shoulder.

I weighed my next words before finally asking, "Would you like a back rub?" He looked surprised so I explained. "You look like you need one and I give pretty good ones. If not that's totally fine, I just thought I'd offer."

He seemed to think a bit too before responding in the affirmative. He returned all his medical equipment to where it belonged so we ended up secluding ourselves in the infirmary. He sat on the makeshift cot and looked at me for direction. "Shirt on or off?" he asked quietly.

_Well that's a hell of a question_ I thought. "Whatever's most comfortable." I responded in a surprisingly professional voice. He took his shirt off and I began to regret giving him the option. The golden light from the fire struck his skin in a way that was making me seriously rethink my stance on who had the better body. I started with gentle strokes on his shoulders, thinking the more tense he was the more sensitive the muscles but soon I was digging my fingers into the tendons and contemplating using my elbow to get the more stubborn kinks out. "Jeeze!" I exclaimed, "And I thought construction workers had tight muscles. You really need to learn to relax."

He laughed. "I can relax when I'm dead."

"Which will be sooner than you'd like if you keep this up." I scolded. "I thought doctors took at least halfway decent care of themselves."

He turned his head and groaned a little as I hit a sensitive spot. "Not true."

"Clearly."

**So I apologize for the abrupt ending here but I kinda backed myself into a corner writing-wise. Hope you found it interesting, and as always review to tell me either way!**


	14. Chapter 14

**So I've gotten bored with my story which sucks because if I can visualize the scene in my head and the expressions of the characters and I'm bored then how on earth do I still have readers? So I'm picking up the pace- hope it works for everybody!**

The next morning Claire looked more tired than when she'd went to sleep. I still had plenty of fruits and vegetables, and Locke brought back a boar so we just stuck close to the caves, eating, napping and making song requests of Charlie. By nightfall we had a pretty good act going, Charlie joked that we could be backup singers on his North American tour.

I was disturbed that night by Claire murmuring and tossing in her sleep. Her face was scrunched as if in pain, but after a few seconds went blank again. I didn't want to wake her since she seemed so tired, so I moved a little further away and went back to bed.

Her back was bothering her when she woke up, so I gave her a back rub and we attempted some stretched to release the tightness. When that didn't work we walked down to our swimming spot and wandered around a little bit to loosen her up. The trip back was punctuated by stops for picking, and when we returned she fell right back asleep. I experimented with cooking some of the more obscure vegetables we found on our hike, and by the time everyone came back from the golf course Hurley built I had a whole lot of boiled cassava, kamunggay & long beans sautéed in coconut milk, and some raw kangkong. I felt ridiculously proud of myself as I watched everyone dig in. There was something so gratifying about providing for all these people; I knew my even trying to hunt would end in embarrassment and failure, but with produce I felt useful. Claire and Charlie were verbally thankful as always, but I was pleasantly surprised that Hurley Locke and Sun & Jin all thanked me as well. Jack waited until everyone had some before serving himself any.

"I hear you rocked the golf tournament." I joked.

He grinned back. "I did all right." He admitted.

I scrutinized his facial expression as he took his first bite of my food. "What do you think?" I asked.

He swallowed. "It's good." He replied. "You should open a restaurant- add it on Hurley's golf course."

"I can see it now; the best food on the island." I laughed splaying my hands in the air. "Never mind that it'd be the only place to get a bite to eat in thousands of miles."

He bobbed his head. "There is that." He chuckled.

I gave Claire another back rub before heading to bed, and threw one in for Charlie for being such wonderful musical entertainment.

That night I was woken by Claire flailing and muttering again. I gingerly put a hand on her shoulder. "Claire?" I whispered worriedly.

Her eyes snapped open and stared at me unseeingly. "What-"she whimpered.

"Claire it's okay. You need to wake up Claire." I tried speaking softly as to not wake the rest of the group.

"-Why?" she cried, increasing her volume.

"Claire, it's not real. Claire please wake up." I urged her, shaking her shoulder now.

She bolted upright and started screaming at full volume. Charlie came to my rescue, trying to help snap Claire out of it. "It's alright."He tried grabbing her flailing hands but she just slapped them away. It killed me to do it but I grabbed her tightly by her shoulders, limiting her arm movement. He grabbed her hands firmly until she calmed down a little. "Hey, hey, you're dreaming." I moved my hands over her shoulders, rubbing them gently. Claire seemed to have snapped out of her nightmare but continued to sob. "You were sleep-walking, alright?"

I tried working her shoulders away from her ears and worked my way down to her hands, which were still in tight fists. "Claire honey?" I tried unfolding her hands and felt something wet and sticky in them.

Charlie looked at me fearfully, then glanced back to her. "Claire, what happened?"

I looked at my fingers which were smeared with her blood. "I'll get Jack." I said quickly, already hurrying towards his spot. He was fast asleep. "Jack." I whispered, nudging his shoulder.

His eyes flew open. "Wha-?" his voice was rough with sleep, eyes unfocused.

"Claire had a nightmare. Her hands are bleeding." I replied.

He went into doctor-mode immediately. "Give me a second." He sat up and grabbed one of the airplane first aid kits, then followed me to where Charlie was rubbing little circles on Claire's shoulder blades.

We left them alone so Jack could try pulling the doctor card and maybe find out what happened. "Thanks for getting her calmed down." I said quietly.

"Course." He replied. "My brother used to do that sometimes." He looked a little sad.

"Well you were great. I just hope this was the worst one so far." He looked at me curiously. "She's been having nightmares lately. I'm not sure if she even remembers them but it's affecting her sleep."

He nodded. "Could talk to Jack; bet he's got something that could help."

The nightmare episode was close enough to sunrise it didn't seem practical to try going back to bed, so I took a bottle of water and went exploring the trail from our swimming spot for some more 'cookable' vegetables since they were such a hit the night before. I was worried about Claire. I wasn't a doctor but with last night's episode I thought they were something more serious- night terrors or something. I'd heard from single moms I worked with sleep deprivation only fed future night terrors so I made a mental note to try talking her into a nap today. I reached our swimming spot and took a deep breath.

"Hey." I spun around to see Boone.

I smiled. "Hi. Going swimming?"

He shook his head. "Just wandering. You?"

"Going picking. Claire had another nightmare last night and I'm hoping to bribe her into a nap with oranges." I joked.

He frowned. "Another nightmare?"

"Yeah, pretty bad ones if the fingernail shaped puncture wounds in her hands are anything to go off." I instantly felt like I'd betrayed her confidence and regretted saying anything at all. "Want to be my pack mule again?" I offered, smiling winningly.

He laughed. "Sure." We wandered along the way I came, digging up more cassava & sweet potatoes and grabbing fistfuls of spinach as we went. We discovered a super efficient way of picking the stuff off trees that was too tall for either of us to get to. He'd put me on his shoulders and I'd strap his backpack to my front. When I'd grab something it went straight into the bag, no climbing up and down and no worrying about dropping a guava.

"So how's the beach?"

He shrugged. "Sayid left about a week ago and he's still not back. Kate's freaking out." I thought about what Sawyer said about the two of them and laughed a little. "What?"

I shook my head. "Sawyer just said something very Sawyer about them. Crude but funny." I giggled.

"He's kind of a jerk." He said sullenly.

"True story." I nodded. "He's got some interesting insight into the dynamics here though. Probably comes from being a social leper."

He laughed. "The only person that'll come near him now is Kate. Even she's been staying away."

I snorted. "Serves him right. That's something I really like about the caves. Even though most of us are total strangers we take care of each other. It's a little hippie-commune circa 1967 but it's reassuring to know if you wake up with a nightmare people come running to help."

We stopped and rested for a minute; taking longs drinks from our respective water bottles. "I was thinking of moving us to the caves." He admitted.

"You should. It's getting a little crowded but if you and Shannon come we could probably start a shelter making effort." I smiled. "And it's nice to get out of the sun."

"Shannon doesn't want to get out of the Sun." he replied frowning. "All she thinks about is her nails and her tan. Like we don't have more important things to worry about."

"We've been doing okay so far. Guess she hasn't found her calling yet." I joked.

He sighed. "Story of her life. Sit back and let other people take care of her."

"Well I take care of everyone except Claire equally so don't let her feel special." I laughed. We hauled in a ton of food, not only because there was the two of us but I was also more confident in trying the produce that needed to be cooked before eating. Locke came back to the caves with a dozen rabbits hanging off his shoulders a little while after we put our harvest safely out of the way. I felt weirdly significant as he offered them to me to add to tonight's dinner.

"I thought you stayed out of the kitchen?" Boone teased as I chopped up Chayote.

"Just at work. I loved cooking for a ton of people back home. My roommates and I used to make ridiculous feasts when we all had a night together." Charlie walked by with his guitar on his back. "How is she?" I asked quietly.

He sighed. "Doesn't really want to talk about it."

I nodded. "Thanks for keeping an eye on her today Charlie. I don't want her to feel like I'm her warden, and I think you guys could be really good friends." He shrugged, then made his way out the cave arch and into the forest.

"You're a good friend to her." Boone said suddenly. "Claire."

I ducked my head. "You're a good brother. You seem to really care about Shannon."

He rubbed his neck uncomfortably. "Yeah. Speaking of Shannon, I should be heading back soon."

"You sure you don't want to stay and eat?" I was unhappily aware of a pout coming onto my face and a whine sneaking into my voice. "Twenty out of Twenty-Three cave residents prefer it to plain boar and bananas! And two of the three that don't can't speak English" I cajoled.

He arched an eyebrow. "And what about the last one?"

"That would be me, and I'm my harshest critic." I grinned sheepishly. " But anyways, the menu at chez cave tonight is garlic rabbit with chayote, okra and Japanese eggplant in a ginger coconut milk curry sauce. And maybe some of last night's boiled cassava to soak up the sauce."

He looked impressed. "If you ever want to start a restaurant in Malibu, look me up." Now he looked guilty. "Shannon's probably wondering where I am. It sounds good but I should go."

I wasn't sure why I was so let down. "Okay, but one of these days you're going to try something of mine, even if I have to force feed you." I stuck my tongue out at him.

I was surprised at how big of a hit the rabbit was. At Jack's suggestion I gave Claire a _very_ well done bunny; she wasn't real happy but I thought it was more related to her sleep deprivation than anything else. She turned down oranges for goodness sake.

I was super tired and incredibly grateful when Michael and Hurley offered to clean up my 'kitchen'. I gave Claire an intense massage and we fell asleep back to back like our last night at the beach. I was in the middle of a strange dream that was a cross between **Watership Down** and Finding Nemo when I felt Claire whack me with her elbow. I heard a 'shhh' and rolled over, pulling my arm over my eyes. They fluttered open and I made a face at the brightness of the fire I wasn't expecting. I saw movement in shadows along the underside of my arm and wiggled my toes to make sure I was totally awake. An instant later the shadows moved off my arm and Claire started screaming. I sat up on my elbows and watched a beige-ish blur run stage right at a breakneck pace.

"Help me!" She was totally awake and screaming louder than the night before. "Somebody's going to hurt me" She was on her feet as Charlie came running.

"Claire it's okay, I saw him too." I pulled her into a tight hug.

She was terrified. "Please, help me."

"What happened?" For his part Charlie look remarkably alert.

"Someone attacked her- I saw it too."

"What?" Jack came running as did Michael.

Claire was sobbing. "He held me down." She cried.

"Which way did he go?" Michael asked urgently.

"I don't know I couldn't see."

I pointed. "I think he went that way; I didn't get a good look though."

"How long ago?" he countered.

"Just now, just now," Claire cried, keeling over. "He just ran away."

Charlie grabbed me by my shoulders. "Did you see him? What did he look like?"

I shook my head and shut my eyes tight. "I saw a light person. Light skin or a light shirt. He took off though; I didn't recognize him." He released his grip and turned to Jack.

Hurley came around the corner out of breath. "What's going on?"

Charlie bounced up and down uneasily. "We should find out, check the surrounding caves."

Jack tried stopping him. "Hey, wait, wait," he grabbed Charlie's arm. "Hold on don't go-"

Charlie was not to be swayed. "Hurley, come on, let's go." He insisted, already moving towards where I pointed.

Jack looked at me a little helplessly, then focused on Claire. "C'mon, c'mon, let's sit down here, okay?" He looked up at Ethan who was standing there looking a little lost. "Can you get her some water?"He tried being reassuring. " Claire, look at me, it's okay." He breathed deeply, obviously hoping she'd do the same. "You're safe now."

"Did you get a look at him, at all?" Michael leaned in close

Claire was still crying and began to hiccup a little. "No, it was dark. I couldn't see."

"Where did this happen?" Jack fired off another question

"It was here." She insisted. "I, I was sleeping and I woke up and he was trying to hurt my baby!" She disolved into sobs again. I brushed some hair over her shoulder and rubbed her shoulders, wanting to cry myself. "He had this... this thing - like... like a needle. And he stabbed me with it." She pulled up her shirt and Jack carefully probed her belly with his fingers. There wasn't a spot oozing blood, but the light was low and for all we knew there could be a mark in the morning. "He was trying to hurt my baby!" she shrieked.

Jack looked lost for words. "It's okay. It's okay." He repeated. "Can you stay with her?" He asked me as Ethan returned with the water.

I nodded, taking the decapitated bottle and offering it to Claire. "Sure." I stroked her hair. "I'm here, it's gonna be okay. They're gonna find him, I promise." Jack and Ethan went off to help the search effort but Michael stayed behind until Walt came over asking what was wrong. He left to put the kid to bed and Claire rested her head in the crook of my neck as she got her tears under control.

"You really saw him?" She asked fearfully.

I continued stroking her hair. "I think so. I definitely saw something."

"So you believe me."

I pulled away from her. "Of course I do." I replied, shocked. "What reason would I have not too?"

She hiccupped and sniffled. "I don't think people take me seriously here. I'm just the poor pregnant girl."

"That's as serious a situation as you can get." I said, pushing her hair behind her ears. "You have no reason to lie about this."

"I don't want to be here anymore." She said shakily, taking another sip of water.

"Then we don't have to stay." I replied easily. "Tomorrow morning we'll go back to the beach. We'll probably have to buy our house back from the bank of Sawyer but I'll work it out."

She shook her head. "I want to go now." She insisted.

I sighed. "Claire, I tripped the whole way back that night with Boone. You and I would end up battered and bruised if we even made it to the beach. I'll stay up, you sleep, and we'll leave in the morning." I offered.

She sniffled hard. "Alright." She acquiesced.

I saw Charlie come in behind us. "You alright?" he asked, draping the two of us in a blanket. Claire nodded. "Don't worry, you want to close your eyes, I'll be here all night." He said seriously. "I won't let anyone get to you. I won't leave you, Claire. Promise."

She stared into the fire and completely zoned out. Hurley came through the cave arch with a pad of paper in his hand and pulled me aside. "So um we're taking down everybody's name and where they're from. How we know each other and all that." He started jotting down my name. "You're Emma; what's your last name?"

I wrapped my arms around myself. "Harik. H-A-R-I-K." I said quietly, watching a motionless Claire. "I'm from Seattle Washington."

He nodded. "Okay cool. And uh, why were you on the plane?"

"I was headed home. I go on trips every fall with the extra money I make during the summer; I'm a waitress. Australia was the next place on my list." I cleared my throat. "I talked to Jack a little bit about that, my traveling. If you want to double check or whatever."

He looked up from writing and nodded quickly. "Yeah sure dude. Thanks."

I smiled. "Yeah no problem. Would you mind holding off on talking to Charlie though? He promised he'd stay with her tonight."

**So please please please, even if you just thought this chapter was 'eh' (like I think people felt about the last chapter) let me know. Because this is the point in my writing where I start just thinking of snippets of what this story could be and never ever update and I hope to eventually finish a story that's not already planned out for me. **


	15. Chapter 15

**So I'm so nervous about this chapter. This episode ends pretty intensely and I want to do it justice.**

I only slept a little after interviewing with Hurley. I wanted to stay up but I didn't have Claire's adrenaline and I was thankful that Charlie was there to watch her for me. I woke up to see her curled in a fetal position asleep facing me. When I moved however, she woke up as well.

"Try going back to sleep." I pleaded. "I'm going to go down and talk to Sawyer so we have somewhere to sleep when we get there with our stuff."

She shook her head. "I can't sleep." Her eyes were rimmed with red.

I pulled out some oranges from my bag. "I'll be back soon okay?" She silently peeled one of the fruits, nodding faintly. I hurriedly packed up a bag with water bottles, some produce and my 'trump card'- Shannon's bikini to pull out if all my other demanding, begging and bartering failed. I ran over the possible ways the conversation with Sawyer could go. Worst case, Sawyer would get me in the bikini and we got nothing of ours back. Best case, I went back to the caves minus my produce and water with a tarp, something to hold it up, some blankets and sunscreen. Passing through the tree line I searched for Sawyer. He'd set up in Jack's old tent, perched on sections of airplane seats propped up by suitcases. I noticed the bandaged arm and judged that Jack had already come to change it. I took a deep breath and approached his feet nervously but not hoping it wasn't noticeable.

"Well hey there Tinkerbelle." He grinned slowly. "What can I do ya for?"

I dropped my bag at my feet. "We're moving back to the beach." I stated.

"You get yourself a boyfriend squirt?"

I rolled my eyes. "Me and Claire. We need shelter. What's your price?"

He leaned up on his good elbow. "Sorry sweetheart, this bed only fits one."

I bit back a growl of annoyance. "Do you have a tarp?" I managed to reply.

"One or two." He hedged.

I crossed my arms. "What do you want for one?"

He looked me up and down slowly. "What're you offering?" His eyes seemed to be looking right through my clothes.

I unzipped my bag and brought out a banana and bok choy. "Food." I said simply.

"Come on Tinkerbelle, gotta make it worth my while." He whined, sounding like a 4 year old instead of the full grown man he was.

"I hear nobody wants to come near you." I replied stonily. "How much can you get yourself with only one working arm?"

He considered my offer. "Breakfast." He said finally.

"That's it?" I wasn't convinced.

"Every day." He smiled. "Consider it rent."

I weighed my options. I was getting by pretty easily; I chalked it up to his weak state. I was sure Charlie would let Claire have one of his blankets, and on the sand they weren't as vital as at the caves. I could try cutting down bamboo or asking for some help to set up the tent but the tarp was essential. "Yeah okay. But I don't take orders- I'm not a short order cook."

He smirked, showing off his dimples. "Course not. Tarp's right over there." He pointed to a sand covered corner. I pulled my bag back over my shoulder and tread carefully around small seemingly random piles to dig out a neon yellow tarp. "You wanna try touchin your toes there Gumby?" My back was to him but I could hear his leer.

"When we get rescued I'm taking you to court for sexual harassment." I replied, dropping a variety of fruits on his bed-side tray.

"Pleasure doin' business with ya Tinkerbelle." He laughed as I stalked away.

With my tarp tucked firmly under my arm I eyed a place to set up. It occurred to me that it was dumb to carry it back to the caves only to turn around and bring it right back to the beach. "Hey Boone?" He looked up from where he was lounging next to Shannon. "Claire and I are moving back to the beach. I got this," I showed him my tarp, "Off Sawyer. Would you mind keeping an eye on it until we come back?"

"Yeah sure." He agreed readily.

Shannon looked like she'd swallowed a lemon. "How you get that?" she asked bitterly.

"I traded him." I answered simply.

She rolled her eyes. "He's a perv."

I nodded but replied. "He's a businessman."

"Whatever. At least down here we don't have to worry about getting raped." She glared at her brother.

He sighed deeply, and said what I'd imagined he'd said before. "She was attacked Shannon, not raped."

Obviously word had spread about Claire. "She just wants to come back to the beach so I'm getting stuff ready for her. Thanks for babysitting my tarp." I smiled at them and turned to make my way back to the caves. About halfway there I heard raised voices.

"I'm not leaving you alone!" Charlie sounded panicked.

Claire sounded remarkably calm for as loud as she was. "Charlie, please just go."

"I can deliver a baby." He insisted, breathless. "I can do this. This must happen all the time."

"Charlie, you don't know how to deliver a-" She was cut off and I went faster, hoping over the larger roots that usually tripped me up. "

"Just listen to me. I'm not going to let anything happen to you. I might not know what I'm doing but I'll figure it out." He started rambling, something it sounded like he did when he was nervous. "If I can kick drugs I can deliver a baby." I could see them now, see Claire's horrified look. "Let me explain. I'm a drug addict. I was a drug addict. I'm clean now!"

She pointed towards the caves. "Get Jack!"

"Right." He sighed and took off.

I tripped over an unexpected branch and swore are I fell face-first into the little meadow.

She gasped. "Are you all right?" She waddled over to help me up.

"Am I all right?" I stood, checking my knees and elbows for serious injuries. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine." She insisted before doubling over in pain.

I rubbed her back. "How far apart are they?"

She breathed deeply for a minute before responding. "A few minutes. Charlie's getting Jack." She sat down on the forest floor.

"Okay, then everything's going to be fine. Take deep breaths and try to relax okay?" I joined her. "I'm sure you know way more about this stuff then I do but you can't go wrong with relaxing." I joked.

She smiled back. "Guess I'll be at the caves longer then I thought."

"I'll put you on a stretcher and haul you out to the beach myself if you still want to go." I offered.

A tear rolled down her cheek and she clenched her fists in pain. "I'm not supposed to be here." She said quietly.

"I know," I soothed. "But it's going to be okay. I promise."

"Claire?" Charlie's voice rang out loudly and out of breath.

"We're here!" I called back.

He looked a little relieved. "Emma! Claire, Jack's coming. How are you doing?"

"It hurts." She moaned, grabbing my wrist.

"Okay, just take my hand." He pried her fingers apart and slipped his hand into hers. "Squeeze." She did without hesitation. "Okay, breathe. Inhale, exhale. Good, just breathe. Inhale, okay, good."

She shook her head. "I'm not supposed to be here."

"I think we all feel like that a bit." He admitted.

She tilted her head sadly "I know, it's just - someone promised me it would be different."

"Well," she sighed. "He was wrong."

She laughed humorlessly. "Yeah. He was wrong." She looked lost in thought for a moment, then another contraction brought her out of it. "A psychic told me I had to raise my baby. I saw him when I first got pregnant, and again when the baby's father and I broke up. He used to call at all hours begging me to keep the baby, then all of a sudden he said to get on a flight to Los Angeles. He bought me the ticket and everything."

I was intrigued despite myself. "A psychic?"

"I know. It's embarrassing." She rolled her eyes. "And now after everything, he was just full of it."

"Or not." Charlie piped up. "I mean, all he wanted was that no one else raise your baby, right?" She nodded. "Maybe he knew. I mean, if he wanted it bad enough."

I nodded. "If he was for real, I believe some people can see the future; maybe he saw this."

She thought for a moment, her eyes dancing along the forest floor but not seeing it. "There was no couple in Los Angeles." She said finally. "He knew. He knew about the plane, what was going to happen." Her voice rose. "Oh my god, he knew." She took deep breaths and released us.

"You feel another one coming?" Charlie asked worriedly

She shook her head. "I don't think so."

"Where's Jack?" I asked. "Shouldn't he have come by now?"

Claire stood up slowly. "You know, I think, I think I'm alright."

"The contractions?" Charlie looked anything but convinced.

" Maybe that was the last one?" I offered.

"Please let that have been the last one." She agreed, nodding.

He glanced between the two of us. "Jack said that stress can cause false labor." He said to me. "You sure you're alright?"

" No pain." They smiled at each other.

"Birthing emergency averted." I grinned, squeezing her hand.

He puffed up a little. "I told you I'd take care of you."

"Thanks. Both of you."

"You're quite welcome."

"Anytime."

"You think you can make it back to the caves?" I asked. She looked at me slightly betrayed. "Boone's watching our tarp, you should get checked out at least."

"I won't let anything happen to you."He promised.

She sighed. "Okay. Let's go."

He grabbed her bag while she and I linked arms, making our way back to the caves. We only made it out of the meadow when she gasped. Charlie looked concerned but I recognized the look. "You okay?"

She nodded. "Yeah, yeah. Look, he just kicked, here" she grabbed our hands and laid them over her belly. The baby kicked again and Charlie's face lit up.

"No matter how many times I feel it it's still completely amazing." I giggled. "I told you it was going to be okay mama."

She smiled, but a crack of a twig made us all look up. "Hello there." Ethan stood in our path smiling.

The hair on my neck stood up.

"Ethan, where's Jack?" Charlie asked suspiciously.

He didn't answer and I felt Claire tense up beside me. "We're headed back to the caves." I said bravely. "They're expecting us."

He took a couple steps closer and I found myself shoulder to shoulder with Charlie in front of Claire. "No they're not. They think you've gone to the beach."

"Boone's watching my tarp." I replied. "I said I'd be back soon."

"What do you want?" Charlie demanded.

Ethan took another step towards us. "Claire, when I say run, run." I whispered.

"I don't want to make any trouble." Ethan soothed. "I just need to talk to Claire."

I felt like a cornered animal. "So talk." I shot back.

He shook his head. "I'm sorry I can't do that. I need to speak with her alone."

"Well she's not going without us." Charlie squared his shoulders.

"I just want her." He repeated.

"Well you can't have her!" I cried, gripping her wrist tightly.

"I want this to be as painless as possible." He held his hands palms facing down as if to push the tension in the air into the ground.

I felt my hands begin to shake; in dear this time, not anger. "Then let us get by."

"I can't do that." He said again. "Claire, just come with me and no one will get hurt." He advanced a few more feet and I felt my body go into a defensive position.

What I thought I'd do I had no idea. Suddenly I was cursing passing up self defense classes in favor of carrying mace. "Claire run." I said urgently, and she tried waddling towards the caves, holding her belly.

Ethan sprang into action. He grabbed her upper arm just below her shoulder and squeezed hard. Charlie moved to punch him but he blocked it and then somehow got Charlie hard in the stomach with his forearm. I jumped on his back and pounded my fists against the arm keeping her in place. He pulled me off with his free arm and flung me to the ground.

I heard more than felt something in my back pop, but I rolled myself back up and went back to try and get her free. I placed myself on his outside, wrapped myself around his arm and bit down on his tricep as hard as I could. He shouted and released her; she resumed waddling while looking at Charlie and I in total fear.

"Run!" I heard Charlie yell.

Ethan kicked me hard in the shin, I tried kneeing him in the groin but with the adrenaline running through my system my aim was completely off. He held tight onto my braid as he punched Charlie in the stomach again, then kicked him as he was keeled over. He strode to Claire in three large steps and grabbed her arm again. "I just need you to come with me." He told her urgently.

Her eyes, which had filled with tears spilled over, and she shook her head violently. "Leave her alone." I screamed, gripping my braid and pulling it as hard as I could. It slipped out of his hand and I tried running straight at him, hoping to get him in the gut or somewhere equally as soft. Instead he hit me first in the side, then my opposite shoulder. Oddly the two blows balanced me and I stumbled forward into a hook to the head.

* * *

Claire's scream was the last thing I heard before everything went black.

* * *

**My first action scene! Let me know what you think!**


	16. Chapter 16

**In case the length of time between updates didn't tip you off writing this chapter was like pulling teeth! I think part of it's because I haven't got much feedback recently. Knowing people care to review is a major incentive to push through the writer's block so please review this chapter if you like it!**

I was woken not by a rescue team, nor by the pouring rain that soaked me to the bone and smeared the gash on my head with mud, but a cold wet nose shoving itself in my ear and a warm tongue thoughtfully cleaning the aforementioned head wound.

Opening my eyes felt like epic undertaking but when I cracked them enough to get a good look at my savior Vincent was sitting next to me patiently, panting. I groaned and wished he'd let me be. Fortunately he knew best and went back to licking my head. "Ehhhhhh." I tried waving him off; he pranced a few feet away, then returned to my side; his open mouth resembling a cheerful smile. _That's because you weren't knocked out by a jungle creep._ I thought spitefully. After a while of him staring me down I began to feel the cold mud seeping through my wet clothes. "Owwwww." I moaned, attempting to roll onto my side. The pressure of my elbow on what felt like an emerging bruise had me flat on my back again. He good-naturedly approached me a little more gently this time, sniffing my neck and shoulder. I grabbed hold of his collar with my right hand and struggled to roll onto my right this time. He sat tolerantly, letting me use him as leverage to first sit, then stand. His patience wore off when I was upright and he took off into the jungle. _Wait a minute. _I had never been here before. Nothing around me looked familiar. _I must still be on the island_ I thought. _But where am I?_ I held my hand to my head and winced as my fingers brushed my wound. They came back into sight with only mud and dried blood to which I breathed a sigh of relief. My heart raced hearing a crash in the foliage but it was just Vincent again; looking at me with an expression of expectation. I figured that he knew where he was going so tripping and stumbling I followed, stopping every few feet to lean against a tree and regain my bearings. After what felt like miles it started to get dark, and I was intensely thankful Walt didn't have a Rottweiler or a Dachshund; I'd never have been able to follow it in the dusky jungle. His flaxen coat caught the little light remaining and made him into a mobile beacon. It became harder to see him as we moved on; I wasn't sure if it was the lack of light or my eyesight which had taken a hit that was causing it. I heard a voice and nearly cried with relief.

"Vincent!" Walt was calling; the canine took off in the direction of his boy's voice. I had lost most of the little energy I had when I came to, and began stumbling between trees, gripping their trunks for dear life. "Vincent?" Back he came, bounding over branches with his tongue hanging out. I felt such a rush of gratitude for the four legged creature it gave me the boost of energy to go the extra fifteen feet or so into the clearing behind the caves. "Miss Emma?" Walt sweetly ran to me as I leaned against a tree. "Dad!"

Michael came running. "Walt?" His eyes widened as he took in my doubtlessly pathetic form. "Emma?" he gasped.

My legs buckled. Knowing someone other than a boy and his dog were there for me allowed the throbbing of my head and the weakness of my legs to fully catch up to me. Vincent walked between Walt and me as Michael supported me on my left. Catching sight of the caves I collapsed completely. Michael had to carry me past the central fires to Jack's infirmary, where not only Jack but also Kate and Sayid were circled around Charlie. At Michael's call of 'Jack!' they all turned, the circle opened and I was placed inside on a makeshift cot.

"Emma can you hear me?" Jack held the eye on my wounded side open and I struggled not to retreat into a ball.

"Uh-huh," I whimpered. "Claire?"

The circlers looked at one another meaningfully. "She's gone." Charlie said in a monotone. "They took her and she's gone."

I felt tears backing up and the pounding in my head increased with each heartbeat with the effort of keeping them at bay. "We have to find her." I cried my voice thick.

"We're going to back out once the sun comes up." Kate assured me.

I pulled at the hem of my shirt. "I'm coming."

Jack didn't even look away from inspecting my head. "You can't; not with a gash like that. How long have you been out there?"

"I remember Claire screaming. We were still on the trail. Ethan hit me." I didn't meet anyone's eyes. "Vincent woke me up; I didn't know where I was."

Jack took a minute to get disinfectant and Kate took his place beside me. "Did you walk through the rain?" She asked.

I shook my head slowly. "I don't think so. If I did I don't remember."

"That's hours unaccounted for." Jack replied, returning with peroxide. "This is going to sting."

I breathed out slowly, trying not to wince. "I'm fine now. I want to come with you."

"Hold this." He handed Kate a flashlight. "You're going to want to stay still." He warned, coming at me with a needle and thread. "Passing out and amnesia are major red flags; best guess is that you have a level 3 concussion. You're going to need plenty of rest for the next few days."

I scrunched my face up and hissed as he inserted the needle into my skin. "I thought you weren't supposed to let a concussed person go to sleep." I found my hand squeezing Kate's tightly and wondered how on earth that happened.

"You can sleep in with me." He replied authoritatively. "I'll check on you tonight but you shouldn't go off on your own for a while."

I took slow deep breaths. Getting stitches _hurt_. I found that focusing on my other wounds actually helped distract me from the needle going in and out of my face. The cut was right along my hairline so I figured even if Jack didn't do a stellar job at stitching me up- something I doubted by the way- my hair would cover any scaring. I glanced around the camp as best I could while keeping immobile. Sun & Jin were talking about me I thought, as were Michael & Walt, although I think the father was congratulating his son on finding me and getting help. What Sun and Jin were saying was anyone's best guess, although she seemed a little more interested in what was going on then he was. Poor Charlie was staring into the fire as if his guitar had just been burned in it and my heart felt like it was being ripped out of my chest to think of Claire out alone or worse, held against her will by Ethan and whoever else was with him.

"Any other injuries?" Jack was tying off the pink thread he'd used to hold my flesh together.

I cleared my throat and resisted the urge to inspect his handiwork with my fingertips. "He hit me on my side; it hurt too much to touch." I replied simply, feeling sleepy. He held the hem of my shirt and with my permissive nod pulled it up to just above my ribcage revealing a maroon bruise about the size of a grapefruit forming just below it on my left side.

He gently prodded the area around it, figuring out the extent of the damage. "Nothing I can do about it but cold compresses and rest. In a day or so I'll look at it again." He sighed, pulling my shirt back down.

"I'm going with you tomorrow." I said as firmly as I could while yawning.

Jack offered me his hand, helped me up, and led me to his alcove. "Lay down." He instructed. "Go to sleep. We'll see where you're at in the morning."

I was on the brink of arguing with him. I wanted him to promise me that I had his blessing to come along, that he knew how worried I was for Claire. Instead he pulled an airplane blanket out from one of his supply piles, folded it up and placed it gently behind my head. I blame my weakened emotional and physical state for not fighting him, because although a litany of arguments came to mind none of them made their way to my mouth. Instead they blurred in my brain, multiplying, combining and crossing until the sheer force of them overwhelmed me in a wave of darkness. That night I dreamed of Claire; Strapped down to a table in a sterile looking room. She wasn't frightened but that made it that much worse; next to her were trays of sharp medical instruments that I doubt existed in real life. A harsh medical light shone on her exposed belly and a group of men in white shrouded in shadows began to slice her open. Only then did she start to scream and I woke with a start.

"Whoa, it's okay." Boone's face swam before me, his hand on my shoulder. I glanced around and noticed two very important things. One: it was way past sunrise. And two: Jack was gone. I was as furious as one could be after just waking up. _I can't believe him! _Boone correctly interpreted my expression. "Jack went looking for Claire with Charlie and Kate. He said you needed the rest and you probably couldn't keep up with your leg being hurt like that."

I looked down to the shin Ethan kicked me in; there was a small slice taken out of it, probably from the impact of the kick, and plum colored bruising spread above and below it along the bone. "He could have waked me." I said sourly, sitting up slowly and crossing my arms.

He nodded distractedly. "I'm supposed to keep an eye on you, make sure you don't go off by yourself."

"I'm fine." I insisted. I contradicted myself as I bumped my side bruise and hissed loudly.

"He gave me some pills if your head still hurt." He held out a prescription bottle filled with different colored pills.

I raised my eyebrows halfway. "Do I close my eyes and pick?" He opened the bottle and shook out a handful. Picking out two oval shaped blue ones he held them between his fingers. Obediently I held my hand out, took the water bottle he handed me and swallowed the pills. As the liquid hit the back of my throat it dawned on me how thirsty I was and I downed the rest of the bottle in seconds. He handed me another bottle and I smiled. "Thanks."

"No problem." He gave me a half-smile and eyed my stitches. "That must have hurt."

I shrugged. "You know how they say 'you should see the other guy?'" he nodded. "In this case I am the other guy."

He laughed. "Ethan got Jack pretty good too." He replied sympathetically. "Wanna get cleaned up?"

I curled my fingers around a section of matted hair. "That'd be great if we had a shower handy. Not sure a dip in the ocean'll cut it." I sighed.

He looked thoughtful for a minute. "I still have your tarp." He said pensively. "I could put fresh water in it if you want."

I considered it. The work involved would be pretty intense but salt-free skin was outrageously tempting. "Okay let's do it." I agreed, standing up.

We struggled to set up a branch cradle for the tarp around the corner from the caves, close enough that we could still hear the cave population but far away enough that when I stripped down for a sponge bath odds were I wouldn't be walked in on. Once it was secure filling it up with water was no problem. I grabbed my shampoo and conditioner and considered exactly how I was going to get my hair clean. I poured clean water over my muddy head, appalled at how dingy the water coming off my hair was. After the debris came back more or less clear I lathered up my head gently, trying to avoid my stitches. Boone helped me rinse off. I sat against a large rock and he tilted the bottle over my hair more gently then I expected; his fingers shielded my eyes, ears and various scratches and I wondered where he learned to do it.

I smiled, eyes still closed. "Mmmm, that feels nice. You do this for all your patients Doctor Carlyle?"

"Just the tough ones." He chuckled. "Have the pills kicked in?"

I mentally tallied my injuries. "I think they're starting to. How's my bruise look?" I pulled up my shirt as I stood, showing off the bump that had turned a brilliant violet overnight.

"Ouch." He hissed sympathetically.

I shot him a grin. "Makes me feel tough."

"You are tough." He replied seriously. "People don't call you useless."

I cocked my head and peeled off my clothes for a sponge bath. "What do you mean?" I doubted my bruised and dirt-caked body was really something Boone would be hot for, and figured making him turn around would be excessive. For his part he was very courteous, keeping his eyes well above my collarbone.

"Shannon and I are the joke of the Island. Like we're a complete waste of time and resources." He said irritably, crossing his arms.

I sighed and tilted my head back, reveling in the cool water washing off not only the dirt but the sweat and heat I'd built up. Rubbing the scrap of cloth in little circles I replied "Who said that? I'd think the people who were accumulating those resources would be a little too busy to be talking shit about other people."

He sighed and leaned against a tree. "I just want to help." He said plainly. "And no one will let me."

"Jack let you." I internally rolled my eyes. "I would have made a break for it as soon as I woke up. I'd be hopelessly lost by now. I know it's super boring, babysitting the wounded chick, but I appreciate it." And I did; I was used to fending for myself, having allies in my life rather than true friends. It was nice to have someone looking out for me, even if it was only because they were told to. Somehow I forgot that I was Boone's charge for the day; he had a way of making me feel like it was us against the world.

**Review please!**


	17. Chapter 17

**I have no excuse for the ridiculous wait, suffice it to say life's gotten more eventful lately. I do, however have an urgent story related issue. When Boone gets hurt **_**and**_** Claire's in labor where should Emma be? Also I have a bribe****-****if you review I will send you an outtake for **_**Where are we? **_**t****hat won't be posted on Fanfiction****. So review please!**

* * *

The next few days I felt like my nerves were stretching to their max and beyond. After the first two days it seemed like everyone had given up hope. Charlie had gotten hurt on one of the hikes and Jack banned him from looking for Claire; he took to sitting by the fire, staring into the embers while he let it go out. Bathing took more out of me then I had thought and when Jack came back to check on me I was commanded to stay in either the infirmary or an alcove near him, I wasn't even allowed to pick produce until my head started to close up. I wasn't happy with the doctors' orders; sitting on a log waiting for news from the more able-bodied people who were out hunting for Claire. I joined Charlie and we sat in silence for hours at a time until Sun stopped by with herbal ointments.

She chattered in Korean for a minute and I tried understanding her. "여러분의 타박상 들어" she said, offering me a slab of gooey green stuff. She tapped her shin and pointed to my injured leg.

"For my leg?" I asked, taking a finger full and holding it up to my bruise.

She nodded quickly, and then reached around to hold up another. "꿰맨데을 돕기 위해" She brushed her hairline, then rubbed her temples.

I dabbed my shin, hissing at the painful pressure. "My head?" My fingers danced across my stitches. She nodded. "What about this?" I exposed my stomach bruise and she made a small noise of sympathy. She held the green ointment up.

"적용을 하루에 두 번. 그들은 여러분의 부상을 도와드립니다." She held up two fingers and moved them one-hundred and eighty degrees slowly. "하루에 두 번. 아침과 밤에. 하루에 두 번"

"Two. Twice? Twice a day?" I held up my fingers in response.

She smiled. "예, 하루에 두 번." She leaned back on her heels and folded her hands in her lap. "당신은 아주 용감했다. 난 네 친구가 실종 죄송합니다." She looked sad.

"Thank you."I said, touching her knee gently. "I appreciate this. Very much."

"너 뭐하는거야?" Jin called harshly. "나랑 같이있어."

She looked behind herself, panicked. "하루에 두번, 기억" She urged, holding her fingers up again.

What she said sounded familiar. "Twice a day." I replied, raising my fingers too. "Thank you." I smiled hopefully.

She hurried back to her husband and I pretended not to notice his angry voice. It wasn't like I wanted him to keep yelling at her but they didn't speak the language and anything I said would be incomprehensible to them. Charlie helped me apply the head salve which felt wonderfully cooling along my broken skin, and held my shirt so I could gently cover my big bruise with the green stuff. It felt more or less the same but my head felt so much better I felt myself doze off, head tilted back on a log, pants still rolled up to my knees. When I awoke it was evening, and there was a small pile of raw fruits and vegetables next to me.

"Boone brought them for you." Locke saw me looking curiously around the camp. "He borrowed your book, he hoped you didn't mind."

I enthusiastically pulled a dragon fruit out of the heap and used his offered knife to slice it open. "It's your book really," I said, digging into the flesh with my plastic spoon delightedly. "I just wish he were here so I could thank him. Any luck today?" Locke and Boone seemed to be the only ones who hadn't given up hope. The trail was gone but they went anyway, starting at the spot Charlie had been found at and searching from there.

"Not today." He replied, shifting as if uncomfortable. "Ethan was a great tracker. I don't know that we'll find anything anymore."

For the umpteenth time I wished I was able to do something. It was as if everyone at the caves was in on Jack's plot to keep me trapped there. Hurley in particular was an annoyingly chipper (and determined) jailhouse warden that somehow managed to pop up every time I thought I was home free. "Well thank you," I sighed. "I'd like to come with you once I get the okay."

"I don't think that would be a good idea." He looked at me seriously. "Your strengths are in providing for the group. You don't need to be wandering in the forest chasing after your friend."

I teared up a little in anger. "I can wander _and_ provide." I spat. "I'm not giving up."

"No one is giving up. I believe the island will return Claire in a matter of time."

His calm expression only furthered soured my temper and I stood, swallowing the last of the dragon fruit. "Sorry I don't share your faith." I gathered the produce in my shirt, holding it like a pouch and stormed off into the direction of the little alcove I called home while Claire was gone. I swore, as I settled my presents into a hollow space that I'd find her, and then never let her out of my sight again. Settling in on a log beside Charlie I sighed. "Would you go with me to look for her?"

He didn't look up from his guitar. Lately he'd been strumming it with enthusiasm I hadn't seen from him since the peanut butter episode. "Jack says you still need a few days."

I felt the traces of annoyance returning full force. "I know what he said. When I've got the okay will you go with me?"

"I can't hunt. Or track." He said sadly, finally looking up. "I'd be bloody useless in looking for her. Ask Locke or Kate."

My shoulders sunk. "Locke already shut me down." I replied guiltily. "And Kate and I's _bonding moment" _here I made quotation marks with my fingers, "Was over once Jack finished stitching me up."

"Why do you have such a problem with her?" he asked curiously, placing his guitar to the side. "She's perfectly normal."

I snorted. "I'm sure she is. She just rubs me the wrong way is all. It's hard to explain."

"Ah, the intricacies of the female mind." He teased, rolling his eyes dramatically.

I gently shoved his shoulder and smiled. "What were you playing?" I asked curiously.

He glanced down at a pad of paper near his knee. "Oh. I erm- I was writing." He cleared his throat. "A song."

I felt myself perk up. "Oh yeah? How's it coming?"

"Alright. I just started really." He hunched his shoulders over the guitar. "It's for Claire, when she gets back."

I leaned back on my hands. "Could I hear it?" I asked tentatively.

"Alright." He nodded slowly. "It's pretty rough yet." He cleared his throat and began to strum softly. _"__Their words mostly noises. Ghosts with just voices. Your words in my memory. Are like music to me. I'm miles from where you are, I lay down on the cold ground. I, I pray that something picks me up; and sets me down in your warm arms."_

I smiled. "It's really nice." I commented. "It's soulful. Claire will love it."

He gave me a small smile. "I'm still working on it. It's a new approach for me, ya know?"

"It's really great." I nodded. "Think you've got a hit on your hands."

By the time Jack had given me the okay to leave the caves I'd come around to the idea that I'd end up monster chow if I went off in the jungle without a tracker, and since no tracker was willing to help me I was stuck hoping and praying for Claire's safe return. During the day it wasn't so bad- I picked produce and helped some of the people at the beach camp move their things away from the rising tide. At night though I had terrible nightmares of Claire getting poked and prodded with intimidating medical equipment that in some versions were so shiny they lit the entire room and in other versions were rusty bloody mangled messes. In most of them I was tied down to a bed adjacent to her; forced to watch her face as it went from absolute calm to abject terror. One of them made me into the head surgeon, leading the others in slicing open her belly and pulling her baby out screaming. I'd wake up drenched in sweat and panting, facing Charlie's worried face. He had been staying near me at night in hopes that it would help my nightmares but the truth was Ethan took Claire right out from under the both of us so how could I expect him to protect me? I thought about bunking in the little alcove near Jack again but the fact that he'd gone up against Ethan and lost didn't boost my confidence in his skills as a guardian. I ended up holing myself up in a corner and going to sleep right after serving everyone dinner. That way I had plenty of time to wake up repeatedly from my nightmares but still get a decent amount of sleep. The first day I did it I woke right before sunrise and was surprised to see Locke filling his water bottle.

He didn't seem to notice me until I was squatted next to him. "Good morning."

"Morning." He didn't sound surprised. Not that I thought much surprised him. "You're up early."

I ducked my head and sipped some water. "Couldn't sleep." I admitted. "What are you doing up?"

He gave me an odd look. "Boar hunting." He said shortly.

"By yourself?" I eyed the knife sticking out of his knapsack. I heard footsteps at the cave arch and saw Boone heading towards us.

"You're up early." He said by way of greeting.

I smiled wanly. "So are you."

He shifted from one foot to the other. "We're going hunting." He said, not meeting my eyes.

"That's what I hear. Bring back a big one." I raised my hand to scratch my stitches but caught myself just in time. "Thank you for the produce the other day." I said shyly. "It's been getting hard to find dragon fruit; it's my favorite."

He gave me a smile. "Yeah, no problem."

"You should stay for dinner." I offered. "You said you'd try some of my cooking."

His head bobbed as he glanced from Locke to me and back again. "I um- I'm not sure if we'll be back by then." He cleared his throat.

I nodded. "Oh, okay." I replied, a little confused by his awkwardness.

Locke was already slipping into the forest. "We'd better go." He said, more to Boone then me.

Boone nodded at him then quickly knelt to refill his water bottle. "I'll see you later." He offered, disappearing into the jungle behind Locke.

"Well that was weird." I said to myself quietly. I gave myself a mini sponge bath, getting my face, back of the neck & knees as well as the small of my back and other stinky, sweaty parts rinsed and refreshed. _God I miss indoor plumbing_. By the time I was done most of everyone was awake and I went picking for some more braising greens and starches. Most of the fruits near the caves were picked clean but people were still sort of afraid to pick vegetables so I didn't have to go far to find Gabi and Calabasas to mash, and Kamunggay, Kangkong, banana buds, lotus roots & long beans to spoon on top. I found some chilies and garlic for flavor and scaled a coconut tree to grab a couple coconuts to sauté everything with. I returned to the caves loaded down and was startled to see what had become my cooking area piled high with fruits. "Uh okay." I said, drawing out the y confusedly.

"Oh, so we thought you could make dessert." Hurley shifted his weight from side to side. "There's bananas, papayas, mangoes, guava, passion fruit, star fruit, dragon fruit, kiwi. The Korean chick brought some kind of nuts." He gestured to a small piece of plane doubling as a bowl holding what looked like almonds already shelled.

I was a little annoyed. "I'll need some help." I replied crossly. "Someone to keep an eye on the starches and help prep the vegetables. I'm also gonna need at least three more coconuts."

He nodded, obviously relieved. "Alright, cool. I guess I'll get some." He wandered off and I let out a sigh, blowing a loose hair out of my eyes.

"도움이 필요하십니까?" I turned to see Sun looking at me apprehensively, holding a bundle of what looked like cucumbers .

"Oh." I hated language barriers. "Um, put those over here I guess. I mean if they're for the group." I settled my vegetables on the ground and made big hand gestures to try and communicate all this food was for everyone.

She smiled and added her cucumbers to the pile. "당신도 원한다면 나는 저녁 식사를 만들기 위해 도움이됩니다" She pointed to the pile of fruit and then back to herself.

"You brought the nuts I heard. Thank you for shelling them." I tucked my hair behind my ears and mentally went over what I needed to do first. I separated the Gabi and Calabasas from the rest of my produce and was surprised when Sun joined me. "You want to help?"

She nodded shyly. "제가 도움이됩니다. 당신도 무엇이 필요합니까?"She pointed to herself again.

"Um okay. You can wash, you know wash?" I mimed washing the tuber.

She nodded again. "야채를 청소하십시오. 예. 이해합니다." She gathered the starches in a purse and hauled it towards the spring. While she was carting the various vegetables back and forth I organized my space. Since all the fruits had skins they were okay to stay on the ground until I needed them, and I took stock of my cooking utensils. A medium sized chunk of airplane wall served as a wok of sorts, and a metal bucket someone found somewhere that wound up with me as well. Filling it up with water I hung it above an established fire to begin boiling. I added a little evaporated seawater for salt and began whacking at coconuts to get to the coconut water. Sun seemed to laugh a little at my energetic if futile efforts. "나는 누군가 당신을 도와 얻을 것이다" She held up her finger and wandered off for a moment, returning with Michael.

He laughed at me a little too. "Need some help?"

"Yes please." I replied, smiling gratefully. "I may need you and Walt to help mash later. It's Hard to do in big batches."

He nodded, focusing on the coconut. "Yeah no problem. Just let me know."

Between Sun's exacting skills slicing up fruits and vegetables and Michael's willingness to put Walt to work it turned out I had very little to do in the process of making dinner. I kept an eye on the starches and with some palm fronds tied together we managed to drain them relatively easily. Michael and Walt mashed and Hurley finally returned with more coconuts so I put Sun in charge of sautéing the vegetables while I dug out the coconut meat to toss on our fruit salad dessert. I also grilled the pineapple, mango and papaya to make it a little different from what everyone was probably eating all day. By the time night fell and everyone gathered around the campfires to eat I had a moment to think about Claire, and was immediately hit with guilt. Looking around I noticed Locke was back but not Boone.

"No luck today?" I asked pleasantly, handing him a plate.

He shook his head. "Doesn't look like we need it." He replied, taking a bite. "You seem to have grown into the role of provider well."

I fidgeted a little, uncomfortable with how he was characterizing me. "I had lots of help." I stammered. "Did Boone already go back to the beach?"

He nodded sagely. "He has some business to take care of. He'll be back in the morning."

I was a little irritated that Boone so blatantly blew me off. _What, did he have a hot date? Doubtful on this island._


End file.
